Don't get cut up over table manners, take them one bite at a time
QUESTION: If you are served a piece of meat that needs to be cut before eaten, how many pieces do you cut at one time? After cutting the meat, do you eat all the cut pieces before eating anything else? What about chicken? I know chicken is supposed to be a finger food. If served a garden salad, do you cut the salad (lettuce, tomato) with knife and fork?
CALLIE’S ANSWER: Actually, when served a piece of meat, chicken or steak, you will cut (using knife in your right hand and fork in your left) the meat one bite at a time. You can put the knife down on the plate and transfer the fork to your right hand if eating American style. In regards to cutting salad, it depends on which style of eating you are using. American style, you can use a knife and cut it the same as meat. Cut one bite at a time and switch the fork to your right hand while putting the knife on the side of the plate. When serving children, it is more than appropriate to serve them cut-up meat.
LILLIE-BETH’S ANSWER: Eating varies slightly depending on which country you are in or which culture is your own and what utensils you are using. When eating with a knife and fork like we do most commonly here in the United States, cut your meat one bite at a time and eat it as you go. This is the same whether you are eating American style, where you cut the meat with the knife in your primary hand and then switch hands to take the bite, or the European-centric Continental style that doesn’t require utensils switching hands. Cutting up all the meat at one time would be reserved for children.
If you want to take a bite of something else on your plate in between, stop cutting and put the knife down on the edge of the plate and continue with the fork in your primary hand. For a salad, if the lettuce is too big to easily fit in your mouth, feel free to use the same method of cutting one bite at a time and eating as you go.
HELEN’S ANSWER: Cut one piece of meat at a time using your fork to hold it down and your knife to cut it. Then put your knife on the edge of the plate, eat the bite, and start over again. The same goes with chicken, unless the host says to eat fried chicken with your hands. You can use the knife and fork with your salad if you need to cut smaller portions. You can always look to see how the host is handling the meat and/or salad courses and do the same thing. Try not to use a major sawing motion when cutting as that will absolutely draw attention to your manners, of lack thereof.
GUEST’S ANSWER: Devonne Carter, Master Florist, Betty Lou's Flowers and Gifts in Norman: I was taught that you cut one piece of meat at a time (and that includes any type of meat or food you are eating). Emily Post concurs with my mother, the 4-H queen, who also had a bachelor's degree in home economics! Or was it my mother who got that information from Emily Post? Either way, when you need to cut any food, use your fork to hold the food in place and use your knife to cut the food. Here in the United States, our etiquette rules suggest that after cutting the food, you then lay your knife down on the rim of the back of your plate, transfer your fork to your dominate hand and proceed to use the fork to eat that one piece of food you ate. When it is time for another piece, you start the whole process over. When you are not sure what is appropriate to eat with your hands versus using utensils, you follow the hostess of the party or the matriarch at the table. If she is using utensils, then it is appropriate for you to use them as well. If her food is finger food, then dig in and use a napkin!
Since 2009, Callie, Lillie-Beth and Helen have written this generational etiquette column. They also include guest responses from a wide range of ages each week. So many years later, Callie is 20-plus; Lillie-Beth is 40-plus and Helen is 60-plus. To ask an etiquette question, email helen.wallace@cox.net.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: A reader asks what the etiquette is on cutting meat served at a meal
