Yes, yes, we have had a million threads on this, but I want my own poll! So here it is:
Do you use:
The “European” method - Knife in your dominant hand (right for right-handers), fork in your off hand (left for right-handers)
The “American” method - For cutting, knife in dominant hand (right for right-handers), fork in your off hand (left for right-handers). When you’re done cutting, you put down the knife and switch the fork to your dominant hand (right for right-handers).
What I am dubbing based on Wolfpup’s use of the term in this thread — http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=823214 — the “sensible” method - Fork in your dominant hand (right for right-handers), knife in your off hand (left for right-handers). No switching.
Some other method, I have overlooked.
Why do you use your chosen method? Simply because it’s the way you were taught? Or did you make a conscious decision to prefer that method because of its advantages? And what were those advantages?
I came up with the “sensible” method on my own as a child and couldn’t believe the weird things the adults around me were trying to tell me.
Both the American and European methods. Knife is always in my dominant hand for cutting. I vary whether I put the knife down to swap American style or stay European based on what it is I am eating.
I was taught American style. I just started doing this because it seemed more efficient.
Pretty sure it takes more dexterity to use a knife than a fork. And I’m pretty sure Europeans came to that same conclusion. Which is the reason they eat the way that they do.
I haven’t tried cutting anything with my non-dominant hand recently, but I’m pretty sure there was a time, sometime between when my parents had to cut my food for me and now, when I needed all the strength and dexterity I could get to cut my own meat. Hence, the habit of doing so with my right (dominant) hand.
But the vast majority of the things I eat don’t require to be cut with a knife, so I naturally use my right (dominant) hand to lift the food to my mouth with the fork or spoon. So it would feel at least slightly awkward to use my other hand on those relatively rare occasions when I’m using a knife.
What dexterity is needed? You’re just sawing back and forth a couple of times. It’s not surgery. And it doesn’t take much strength. I’m not carving a sculpture from marble.
I need the strength and precision of my dominant hand to spear the meat in the correct place and to hold it there during cutting.
I was never “taught” any “method.” Which seems strange to me, as my mother did care about manners, etc. I must have learned like a caveman or something, but it seems that the European method is closest to what I do. I never notice how people eat (knife- and fork-wise) , but threads like this make me wonder if I’m being judged by others.
Strength is a non factor IMO.
The logic is, once you speared the meat, your left hand isn’t doing anything, you just have to keep it stationary. While your right hand (or dominant hand) is the one that has to handle the back and forth motion.
To me, it’s more sensible to let your dominant hand handle the more “dangerous” of the two tools being used.
When I was in my early teens, my parents noticed that I was eating European style. They tried to get me to switch to American style, but I just wouldn’t, and they decided it wasn’t worth arguing at the dinner table about it anymore.
Me too. Except my parents didn’t try to get me to switch. They just pointed it out and wondered where I learned to eat like that. (Which I don’t know. I think I just figured it out on my own.)
Speaking as an actual European (Brexit be damned), I have issue with your description of European style.
It’s not ‘dominant hand/knife, non-dom/fork’, it’s ‘RIGHT hand/knife, left hand/fork’, regardless of whether you’re right or left handed.
I don’t recall being “taught” to use a knife and fork, although I suppose I must have been. Or maybe I should say I don’t remember any emphasis being put on which hand held which utensil. Once it was clear I wasn’t going to injure myself or others, I really don’t think my parents paid any further attention.
Also, it *is *weird how many threads we’ve had about this and I too wonder who is secretly judging me :o
It’s an important distinction. How, after all, would you be able to snear at other diners’ gauche and incorrect use of utensils if you didn’t know their dominant hand?
Well I’d give myself away when it came to dessert; I’ve never felt comfortable with a spoon in my right hand. And I’m always picking up someone else’s wine glass. And starting sentences with a conjunction.
Knife is always in my dominant hand for cutting. I vary whether I put the knife down to swap American style or stay European based on what it is I am eating.