Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Put a Fork in It
"Do you cut-and-switch? Well, you’ve got to stop. The more time you waste pointlessly handing utensils back and forth to yourself, the less time you’ll have to cherish life and liberty, pursue happiness, and contribute to America’s future greatness. And also—though that snob at dinner surely didn’t know this—the supposedly all-American cut-and-switch is in fact an old European pretension, of just the sort we decided to free ourselves from 237 years ago."
Put a Fork in It
"Do you cut-and-switch? Well, you’ve got to stop. The more time you waste pointlessly handing utensils back and forth to yourself, the less time you’ll have to cherish life and liberty, pursue happiness. [/url]
How quickly do you need to eat? If you are in such a big hurry you could pick your food up with your hands and eat it.
The article is a fun read, but I disagree with the main premise, that continental style is somehow "more efficient" than the dominant American "zig-zag" style.
First, in the continental style you hold your fork in your non-dominant hand for both cutting and eating. But my non-dominant hand is also my non-dextrous (heh) hand, which means it has much lower accuracy in hitting my pie-hole. So I spill a lot of food trying to eat offhand. Anyone who has ever broken their dominant hand and had to wear a clunky cast on it so they were forced to eat with the other hand knows exactly what I mean. And also, periodically having to interrupt dinner for a trip to the ER because you've stabbed yourself in the lip, or worse, does a lot of damage to one's overall eating efficiency rating.
Second, when you consider the shape of a fork, the curved shape is clearly that of a shovel, and it is meant to be used like a shovel, to scoop up food. And in that regard the American way is clearly far more efficient. I can easily scoop up 3X the quantity of peas using my fork as a shovel than I can trying to pack them onto the back of my fork with my knife. Mashed potatoes, baked beans, and my gosh, asparagus! And besides, eating that way always just looks effete, like you're trying to emulate they way the posh folks eat on "Downton Abbey." In any case, one can clearly pack away the grub faster using the fork as intended, to scoop things up.
Now, this new blended style, keeping the fork in the non-dominant hand, but in the shovel position, has its own oddness to it. Trying to hold food down with the fork tines pointing up creates a mechanical disadvantage, so it's harder to hold that food steady while sawing at it with the knife, unless you raise the fork handle over center, to get a proper stab going.
I say we should assert our American ingenuity and go for something truly innovative, a style all our own which honors the past and then pushes it out of the way to reach new levels of efficiency. Here's what I propose, as our new standard...
Fork in left, sorry, non-dominant hand, tines pointed down; knife in dominant hand for maximum cutting strength and dexterity, as well as possible defensive use. Cut and mix the food as desired, as before. Then use both knife and fork to shove the food to the front of the plate, and thence into the mouth, which has been lowered to the intake position at the edge of the plate.
Put a Fork in It
"Do you cut-and-switch? Well, you’ve got to stop. The more time you waste pointlessly handing utensils back and forth to yourself, the less time you’ll have to cherish life and liberty, pursue happiness, and contribute to America’s future greatness. And also—though that snob at dinner surely didn’t know this—the supposedly all-American cut-and-switch is in fact an old European pretension, of just the sort we decided to free ourselves from 237 years ago."
Okay, I'm guessing this is just an amusing way to look at eating habits. But I'd much rather focus my efforts on minimizing wasted time in check-out lines, red lights, Dr. office waiting rooms, etc than to be concerned with time "wasted" at the dinner table.
if aiming for efficiency - why use a knife at all,,just pick the meat up with a fork and bite off a piece....
and if the meat has a bone in it-like a porterhouse steak or pork ribs,,,just keep a towel handy and use your hands
just think of all the water and dish soap one can save by not using knives, not to mention accidental cuts, stitches,
and all the metal that wont be strip-mined...
go green!! use your hands!
Having grown up in Europe, I still use the classic knife and fork manner of eating. Although I have lived in the US since 1979, the US style of eating like six-year-olds still seems wierd to me.
I have never stabbed myself in the face, spilled food on myself, or had to go to the ER because of how I eat, and have no reason to switch back and forth. That seems silly to me.
I've eaten this way for about five decades without major spillage or any injury.
I have never stabbed myself in the face, spilled food on myself, or had to go to the ER because of how I eat, and have no reason to switch back and forth. That seems silly to me.
Yes, it was meant to be. It was humorous exaggeration, of course.
Just use chopsticks and you won't have to worry about the fork...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
