If I observed someone doing something to food which I felt decreased the quality (ketchup on a steak, for instance), I would recommend to the eater that they try it the “proper” way. But if a person has tried the food the “proper” way, and still prefers their own style, I’ll pass the ketchup bottle when they ask for it.
For the record, I do eat ketchup on hot dogs, but in moderation, and never as the sole condiment (if I have only one condiment on a dog, it’s mustard), and never on Polish sausage or the like.
Oh, and it does slightly bug me when people use a fork for oriental dishes, rather than chopsticks, but I won’t say anything about it unless it’s a friend and I’m confident they won’t take it the wrong way. Ironically, the last time I had Chinese food, I, the Frenchman, the Argentinian, the Turk, and the Ukranian at the table all used chopsticks, but the Taiwanese fellow used a fork.
My first husband’s mother (who was Southern trailer-trash, through-and-through) was horrified that I ate fried chicken with my fingers. She didn’t eat anything with her fingers, and thought it was just awful.
As for more condiment misuse: Lots of people are grossed out when I put pepper on cole slaw. I think it’s good that way, but apparently I’ve offended lots of people.
Oh yeah - tasty & crunchy too. I’ve had some fried shell-on shrimp at a Thai place where it was proper to eat the shell. Also at dim sum - one place we go has these fantastic whole (head-on) fried shrimp with a light crispy coating and the shell still on. Yum!
Heh. You know why he was using a fork? He realized the time-honored tradition of fumbling around with twop pieces of wood was far inferior to the ultra-convenience of the fork. He was laughing at you five for not dfoing the same.
Seriously, though, were I at an upscale Asian food eatery, then yes, I would use whatever traditional implements of eating are given to me, but if I had some Chinese take out I’m eating at home? Fork a-hoy.
Even though I know it’s OK to eat fried chicken with my fingers, I rarely do. It’s just too messy for me. I’ll do drumsticks with my fingers, but that’s about it. I certainly don’t think it’s ill-mannered to do so.
Re: the OP, YES! I hate it when people conform to rules of formality. I am not suggesting spaghetti without flatware, but unless we are talking fine china and fine dining, anything goes in the phunhouse.
In my past life (as a single guy who dated), I loved eating chicken wings and nachos on a first or second date over a beer or two… if a fork was wielded, that was a bad sign… eating with the hands and frequent licking of the fingers, however, was a good sign (and pleasing to the eyes as well).
Do not, however, break out the lipstick and lip liner for a post-meal touch-up. I don’t care if the lipstick police are in the rear-view mirror, lights-a-blazing!
Oh so true, I do some part-time work in the catering industry and it depresses me how much good food gets wasted. If something is literally untouched and I can get away with it, I’ll usually try to eat as much as I can on the way from the table to the kitchen, 'cos I know it’ll go in the bin otherwise. Likewise when I worked in a supermarket - we weren’t allowed to take out-of-date stuff (that would otherwise be trashed) after the store had closed even if we paid for it. Grr. Starving children in Africa etc.
I’ll grant that you may have meat sauce on your pasta any time you want. I prefer marinara with meat balls or sausage if I decide to have any meat at all. I like my pasta with just enough tomato sauce to color the noodles, I do not want my pasta to be swimming in a tomato sauce bath… although I never thought twice about saying anything to a former room mate whose spaghetti could be totally lost in the meat sauce in his bowl (a plate wouldn’t have held enough sauce).
I like lots of sauce myself, so that I get some liquid sauce with every bite. And I like sauce that is thick enough that it doesn’t all just sit on the bottom. And I prefer the meat to be evenly distributed as well, so meat sauce is fine with me. If it’s meatballs, I have to do the chopping and distributing myself.
ascenray. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had in-shell shrimp that’s been deep fried. But if it’s been deep-fried and battered, I might not have a problem. It’s when it’s been plainly boiled or steamed in the shell I find “wrong.” It’s like eating boiled peanuts in the shell.
If I’m ever invited to dine on pasta at Guinastasia’s or Anne Neville’s, I must remember to rachet down my meatball expectations.
For some reason, as a kid, I used to get really wigged out when I saw someone drinking a glass of milk with ice cubes in it.
Also, unlike some New York comedians I’ve watched, I’d never eat a candy bar with a knife and fork.
Tip the sushi over on its side. Then pick it up with the chopsticks running lengthwise. This compresses the sushi against the rice. Dip the fish briefly in the soy sauce and then pop the whole thing in your mouth.
I eat meatballs on subs, meat sauce on spaghetti. When I make meatsauce, bear in mind, it has lots of bite size chunks of meat, and enough of a meat-to-sauce ratio so that the sauce can be eaten by itself with a fork the next day when you reheat it (I almost always make far more sauce than I need for the pasta, so the last of the leftover sauce becomes it’s own meal)
My spaghetti sauce is much the same - so much so, in fact, that my brother refuses to consider it spaghetti sauce (ie, refuses to add noodles to it) and calls it my chili. ANd will eat a whole pot in one sitting if I don’t hit him upside the head.
When I am at a Thai restaurant, I am never sure if I am eating the curry properly. Do I add the curry to the rice or the rice to the curry. Come to think of it, I have similar problems when I eat Indian food as well.
I don’t know what the Thai tradition is, but for Indian food, you put a mound of rice on your plate, top it with curry and mix before eating. You never eat the rice separately.
My first husband’s mother (who was Southern trailer-trash, through-and-through) was horrified that I ate fried chicken with my fingers. She didn’t eat anything with her fingers, and thought it was just awful.