# On Table Manners And Eating Pancakes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750 "2017-04-04T18:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/61 "2017-04-06T12:32:09Z")
Why would you cut pasta? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/62 "2017-04-06T14:29:31Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why would you cut pasta? I can’t speak for anyone else but I do it sometimes to make the strands shorter so they won’t drip as much and ruin all my clothes. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/63 "2017-04-06T14:57:46Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Both American style and European style are dumb, as far as I can tell. Why not just use the fork in the dominant hand and the knife in the non-dominant hand, no switching or eating wrong-handed required? I use my knife in my dominant hand because it’s a KNIFE. Less chance of slicing the wrong item/body part. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/64 "2017-04-06T15:02:33Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Both American style and European style are dumb, as far as I can tell. Why not just use the fork in the dominant hand and the knife in the non-dominant hand, no switching or eating wrong-handed required? Shrug, AFAICT what most Europeans do is simply use knife and fork in whichever handedness they happen to prefer. Southern Europeans often grab knives less often than Americans or Northern Europeans, since we use bread to push food. It’s one of those etiquette things that someone once wrote in a manual and a lot of other people apparently believe but which hold very little relationship with reality. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/65 "2017-04-06T15:13:44Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why would you cut pasta? Exactly. I break in half before I cook it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/66 "2017-04-06T15:41:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why would you cut pasta? > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Exactly. I break in half before I cook it. 🆒 Heh. I break mine in thirds. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/67 "2017-04-06T17:42:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why would you cut pasta? I forgot to cut it into pieces before cooking it and now it’s a footlong strand ready to swing goop onto my shirt? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/68 "2017-04-06T19:25:47Z")
If you want short pasta, why not eat farfalle or fusilli or something? Why cut spaghetti or bucatini? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/69 "2017-04-06T20:23:44Z")
When I was growing up in the Midwest in the '70s, I don’t recall anyone using the term “pasta” and in people’s houses, there was only spaghetti served, no other kinds of pasta. Spaghetti was spaghetti. It wasn’t a subset of anything. I don’t recall anyone having any other kind of pasta at home. I saw a lot of people cutting spaghetti on their plates after mixing it with sauce, sometimes quite small, like inch-long pieces. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/70 "2017-04-06T20:28:54Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I am right-handed. Like several others have confessed, when eating something like steak, I hold knife in left (non-dominant) hand, fork in right (dominant) hand, and don’t switch hands. > > This, I gather, is the way a left-handed European would do it. > > In fact, people who see me eat this way have occasionally asked me: “Are you British” or “Are you left-handed?” Thank you. In contrast to the description of the “American” method and the “European” method, this is what I refer to as the “correct”, or “sensible” method! 😉 For a right-handed person, eating with the fork in the right hand is of course natural, and there is no difficulty whatsoever in using a knife in the left hand for cutting – it’s not like you’re sculpting the fine details on some masterpiece; you’re using the knife to dislodge a piece of food! Re the OP, I eat pancakes with a knife and fork, held as described. I also can’t believe some of the attitudes about pasta! 🙂 To me, part of the appeal of spaghetti is the long strands – it’s kind of like a texture thing. I actually prefer spaghettini rather than spaghetti – long and thin, and if the noodles were broken I’d throw them away! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/71 "2017-04-06T20:29:08Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > If you want short pasta, why not eat farfalle or fusilli or something? Why cut spaghetti or bucatini? Because I want the long noodle shape for how it holds the sauce. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/72 "2017-04-06T21:01:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Thank you. In contrast to the description of the “American” method and the “European” method, this is what I refer to as the “correct”, or “sensible” method! 😉 > > For a right-handed person, eating with the fork in the right hand is of course natural, and there is no difficulty whatsoever in using a knife in the left hand for cutting – it’s not like you’re sculpting the fine details on some masterpiece; you’re using the knife to dislodge a piece of food! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! I’m thinking of starting a separate poll on this. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/73 "2017-04-07T12:31:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > When I was growing up in the Midwest in the '70s, I don’t recall anyone using the term “pasta” and in people’s houses, there was only spaghetti served, no other kinds of pasta. > > Spaghetti was spaghetti. It wasn’t a subset of anything. I don’t recall anyone having any other kind of pasta at home. Not even mac-and-cheese? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/74 "2017-04-07T13:11:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not even mac-and-cheese? Well of course people ate mac and cheese but it wasn’t considered to be in a category with spaghetti. It was a separate thing, with other kinds of noodle dishes. Spaghetti was considered Italian, mac and cheese not. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/75 "2017-04-07T13:16:15Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > But not for pasta. Pasta is eaten with a spoon and fork, where the pasta is pressed against the fork tines and the fork is twirled to wind up the strands into a bunch (not too big a bunch) and this is conveyed to the mouth. Note to my five year old self - moderate your rotational speed when twirling to avoid spraying the vicinity with spaghetti sauce. If you’re eating pasta like Italians do, you don’t use a spoon either. Just twirl and eat. To the OP, as a middle-class Brit, it is ingrained in me to eat what you call ‘European style’, unless I’m eating food that doesn’t need cutting up at all, such as chilli, or pasta, which I twirl with a fork. Pancakes, omelettes, all European style here. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/76 "2017-04-07T13:43:09Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Well of course people ate mac and cheese but it wasn’t considered to be in a category with spaghetti. It was a separate thing, with other kinds of noodle dishes. Spaghetti was considered Italian, mac and cheese not. How about tuna casserole? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750/77 "2017-04-07T15:09:49Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > If you’re eating pasta like Italians do, you don’t use a spoon either. Just twirl and eat. Yeah, I’ve never seen Italian-born Italians do the spoon thing, either. I wonder if it’s a regional thing, or it somehow became and Italian-American thing (which might suggest it being a Sicilian thing, but I’m not finding any evidence they do this in Sicily, either.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-table-manners-and-eating-pancakes/783750.md?page=3)