Европейский и американский этикет

Интересные различия в европейском и американском этикете

В сегодняшней обстановке, которая становится все более глобальной, знание того, что ожидается, когда вы садитесь поесть, может сбивать с толку даже тех, кто много путешествовал.

Но все не так страшно! В западном обществе существует два различных стиля питания: европейский и американский.

In today's increasingly global environment knowing what's expected when you sit down to eat can be confusing even for those well traveled.

But in Western society there are two distinct dining styles: the European dining style and the American dining style. With both dining styles when you first sit down you'll have your napkin in front of you. The napkin always goes on your lap right away. 

Now, you'll notice I have two different napkins here. One of them is larger than the other. The smaller napkin is the lunch napkin and the larger napkin is the dinner napkin. With the lunch napkin because it is smaller when you place it on your lap you open it up all the way and place it on your lap. With the dinner napkin it is a little bit different because it is larger you only open it up half way and you place it on your lap the fold facing towards you.

With both dining styles they start off the same way with your fork in your left hand with the tines facing down with the index finger along the back. The knife would be in the right hand with the blade facing down and the index finger along the back of the knife. 

You would cut your food and with the European dining style your fork stays in your left hand and you place your food into your mouth with the tines facing down. So it would go something like this.

When you want to put something soft or vegetables onto your fork the easiest way to do it is to spear your meat and push the vegetables onto the back of the fork when your eating. 

With the American dining style it's a little bit different. It starts off the same way. You cut the food and then you place your knife on the upper edge of the plate like so, you transfer the fork over to your right hand with the tines of the fork facing up. Your hand always goes on your lap, never on the table and you would put the food into your mouth with the tines facing up.

So just to demonstrate that again you would cut the food, the knife would go on the upper edge, transfer the fork over to the right hand, hand goes on the lap, and then you would eat the food like this. Sometimes you will be in a position you want to take a break when your not quite finished yet. 

So there is a signal that tell the wait staff that your not quite finished eating but you are taking a break and that is when you put your knife and your fork at right angles on the plate like this. 

The tines of the fork are facing down, the blade of the knife is always facing towards the fork. Now depending on how much room you have on your plate or what's on your plate you may have to move your fork and knife apart a little bit more or a little closer and they can actually overlap as well. With the American dining style if you're taking a break your hands always stay below the table of course unless you're taking a drink.

With the European dining style your hands and wrists always stay above the table. But with both dining styles you never put your elbows or your forearms on the table until the meal is completely finished and everything has been taken away. 

There is another signal that tells the servant that you're completely finished your meal and that is when you have your fork and your knife at right angles on the plate at if you're to think about the clock the twenty after ten position on the clock. The fork can be placed on the plate with the tines facing up like this or the tines facing down like this. The blade of the knife is always facing towards the fork. So those are the two dining styles in Western culture.

Choose the one you like best and enjoy.

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