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Classic
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page 498
altogether pleasant, and it is better to cut it, a bit at a time, after
buttering it, and put piece by piece in the mouth with one's finger and thumb.
never help yourself to butter, or any other food with your own knife or fork. It
is not considered good taste to mix food on the same plate. Salt must be left on
the side of the plate and never on the table-cloth.
Let us mention a few things concerning the eating of which there is sometimes
doubt. A cream-cake and anything of similar nature should be eaten with knife
and fork, never bitten. Asparagus--which should be always served on bread or
toast, so as to absorb, superfluous moisture--may be taken from the finger and
thumb; if it is fit to be set before you, the whole of it may be eaten. Pastry
should be broken and eaten with a fork, never cut with a knife. Raw oysters
should be eaten with a fork, also fish. Peas and beans, as we all know, require
the fork only; however, food that cannot be held with a fork should be eaten
with a spoon. Potatoes, if mashed, should be mashed with the fork. Green corn
should be eaten from the cob; but it must be held with a single hand.
Celery, cresses, olives, radishes, and relishes of that kind are, of course, to
be eaten with the fingers; the salt should be laid upon one's plate, not upon
the cloth. Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of the
knife; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps one to master a
refractory morsel. Fresh fruit should be eaten with a silver bladed-knife,
especially pears, apples, etc.
Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. In England they are served
with their hulls on, and three or four are considered an ample quantity. But
then in England they are many times the size of ours; there they take the big
berry by the stem, dip into powdered sugar, and eat it as we do the turnip
radish. It is not proper to drink with a spoon in the cup; nor should one,
by-the-way, ever quite drain a cup or glass.
Don't, when you drink, elevate your glass as if you were going to stand it
inverted on your nose. Bring the glass perpendicularly to the lips, and then
lift it to a slight angle. Do this easily.
Drink sparingly while eating. It is far better for the digestion not to drink
tea or coffee until the meal is finished. Drink gently, and do not pour it down
your throat like water turned out of a pitcher.
When seating yourself at the table, unfold your napkin and lay it across your
lap in such a manner that it will not slide off upon the floor; a gentleman
should place it across his right knee. Do not tuck it into your neck,like a
child's bib. For an old person, however, it is well to attach the napkin to a
napkin hook and
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Classic
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