# How Do You Eat? Which hand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466 "2017-12-14T02:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/21 "2017-12-14T16:11:10Z")
If you mean Indian style, I would say use the right hand. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/22 "2017-12-14T17:20:14Z")
Mostly right handed. One thing I do that some folks have commented on is if using a knife and fork for something like steak I will hold the knife in my right (to cut) and fork in my left to secure said steak and then switch utensils/hands to actually lift the cut piece and eat it. Don’t know when/where/how I developed that technique but I’ve done it as long as I remember. No one else in the families I grew up in did it that way. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/23 "2017-12-14T18:22:17Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I just switched this year to European style. Knife in right hand and fork, tines down, in the left. I use the fork in my right hand if I’m eating something that doesn’t require cutting. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk This is how I was taught to eat unless it’s Indian food. If we’re eating Indian - whether in a restaurant or at home - that’s usually eaten with hands, unless it’s in a “mixed” restaurant, like an American-style pub that just happens to serve curry as well (plus, those places don’t generally have roti, which is the best edible utensil every - much tastier than my hand). ---
**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/24 "2017-12-14T20:35:22Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > John Lennon did this song, right? I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/25 "2017-12-14T21:11:07Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I just switched this year to European style. Knife in right hand and fork, tines down, in the left. I use the fork in my right hand if I’m eating something that doesn’t require cutting. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Me too. GaryM ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/26 "2017-12-16T05:19:39Z")
Entrenching tool. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466/27 "2017-12-16T13:10:36Z")
I vary. If it is something like a steak, I generally use the European style. Knife in right, fork in left. If I can cut something with the edge of a fork, then fork right. Occasionally, I will use the switching method, if the others are not working for me. For example, I don’t know how to eat peas with the fork in the left hand. And anything it makes sense to eat with fingers, I do. E.g. asparagus and carrots. Also all fruit. Once in Germany, I saw a man pick up a peach with a fork in his left hand. Using a knife in his right, he peeled it, then put it down and cut little pieces off it and ate it, more or less like a steak (with a bone). Me, I just pick it up and eat it, peel and all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-which-hand/804466.md?page=1)