Generally, my knife stays on the right and the fork on the left. Except with peas; I have a weak left wrist and I can't seem to get them to roll up onto the fork unless the fork is in my right hand.
I'll eat a little bit of each thing, but all separate. So maybe first a little steak, then some rice, then some green beans. But then I might go back to the rice, or skip the green beans for a couple of go 'rounds.
Now, my brother, he only eats one thing at a time. So he'd eat all of his rice, then all of his steak, then all of his green beans. He also doesn't like things on his plate to touch each other. (I used to be really bad about that too, but I've gotten better over the years.)
I had no idea it was so regional. Learn something new every day.
Fork in left, knife in right - that's what I was taught as a child was good etiquette. Mind you, that apparently stems from the Victorian model that's based on not using the left hand because that's 'the devil's hand' *shrug* so I can see how that might be peculiarly British. We do tend to hang on to customs just because 'that's the way it's always done'.
As for putting more than one thing on the fork - I do in restaurants or if trying a new recipe because the intention of the chef/recipe writer is that these flavours should be married together and it's best to sample them all at once rather than separately. But normally at home I tend to eat everything separately starting with my least favourite and finishing with my most favourite (very childish behaviour, I know, but that's me *g*)
We eat a lot with our hands - you take a piece of bread and scoop some food onto it, and you take a bite. Can't be done with soups, of course, or when you're dining out unless you're in a restaurant where food is meant to be eaten that way. It's a Muslim thing, and cleanliness is a major, major thing in our culture - both literal and figurative (e.g. you only use your right hand because that's the clean hand, while left hand is used for unclean things; this isn't followed the same in all Muslim countries).
When I do use a knife and fork, I also take composed bites, but I do sometimes switch hands. When I have the fork in my left hand, tines are down for spearing and cutting; when it's in my right hand and the knife s down, tines are up for scooping.
I absolutely hate when my food gets mixed up, so I try to make sure none of it touches on the plate. So I only take one food at a time. First a little chicken, then the next bite some potatoes, etc. My parents are the opposite though, they kinda mix everything up a little, so I think it's just a weird thing of my own. I also always eat with the fork in my right hand because I'm right handed, and with the prongs up. I only switch it to the left hand when I cut my food, but I don't really eat that much food that needs to be cut. A lot of time the edge of the fork suffices for cutting things. I live in the US by the way.
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Generally, my knife stays on the right and the fork on the left. Except with peas; I have a weak left wrist and I can't seem to get them to roll up onto the fork unless the fork is in my right hand.
I'll eat a little bit of each thing, but all separate. So maybe first a little steak, then some rice, then some green beans. But then I might go back to the rice, or skip the green beans for a couple of go 'rounds.
Now, my brother, he only eats one thing at a time. So he'd eat all of his rice, then all of his steak, then all of his green beans. He also doesn't like things on his plate to touch each other. (I used to be really bad about that too, but I've gotten better over the years.)
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Fork in left, knife in right - that's what I was taught as a child was good etiquette. Mind you, that apparently stems from the Victorian model that's based on not using the left hand because that's 'the devil's hand' *shrug* so I can see how that might be peculiarly British. We do tend to hang on to customs just because 'that's the way it's always done'.
As for putting more than one thing on the fork - I do in restaurants or if trying a new recipe because the intention of the chef/recipe writer is that these flavours should be married together and it's best to sample them all at once rather than separately. But normally at home I tend to eat everything separately starting with my least favourite and finishing with my most favourite (very childish behaviour, I know, but that's me *g*)
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When I do use a knife and fork, I also take composed bites, but I do sometimes switch hands. When I have the fork in my left hand, tines are down for spearing and cutting; when it's in my right hand and the knife s down, tines are up for scooping.
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I'm a switcher. I'll eat a little bit of everything, unless it's a favorite of mine, I might save it for last.
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