Gentleman's Gazette on table manners

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The most popular dishes on Deliveroo

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If you want a home delivery from the restaurant which would not deliver otherwise, call Deliveroo. Many do. The data published by Deliveroo early this year makes me wonder: how many dishes are in the top ten in the UK which you can not eat with your hands? (Yes, rice is eaten by hand in India. Yes, Debrett's agree that pizza is finger food. And many other dishes too ).

Deliveroo UK's top ten most-ordered dishes 2017

1. Cheeseburger, Five Guys – London, UK 
2. Boojum's Twojum, Boojum – Belfast, UK 
3. Chicken Katsu Curry, Wagamama – London, UK
4. Cheese 6oz American Cheeseburger, Gourmet Burger Kitchen – London, UK
5. Chicken Tinga Burrito, Mission Burrito – Bristol, UK
6. Medium Grilled Chicken Burrito, Tortilla – Brighton, UK
7. Crazy Salmon Roll, Kenji Sushi – Edinburgh, UK
8. Byron Burger, Byron – London, UK
9. Dead Hippie Burger™, MEATliquor – London, UK
10. Oahu Bowl, Ahi Poké – London, UK

But cutlery is still in high demand. 

Increasing interest to prepare different cuisines and special gourmet dishes at home, gaining popularity of concept of social dining and fine dining concept, and growing popularity of casual dining are likely to drive the global cutlery market growth. Further, growing number of households across geographies will influence aggregated demand for the products. Increasing use of edible cutlery is one of the major trends that the market is expected to witness during the forecast period. Cutlery Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017 - 2022

Fingers, beware.

Dinner talk - how small?

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From time to time everyone rebels against the tradition claiming it is a waste of time or old-fashioned ritual better forgotten. Like small talk when you meet people, especially those you don't know very well. They re-discover the importance of meaningful, deep-going conversations and the joy of getting to know other people forgetting that unchattered waters could be murky.

What is your relationship with God? What is something you fear in life? These may be great topics for conversations, but we rarely tackle such meaty topics at social gatherings. Instead, our discussions usually centre around summer travel plans, the latest home repair horror story and, of course, the weather.

This is a shame. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/banning-small-talk

Banning any exchange of little pleasantries at your dinner party might be fun. You don't need a degree in psychology to know that some change is always welcome. Especially a little, safe, reversible change. When you can enjoy its freshness with a certain degree of security knowing that you can always talk about weather again.

Do you want you party to be a success? By all means, ban all small-talking. But make it a game. With all the rules, penalties and the possibility to stop it if the weather becomes stormy. The article quoted above claims

 everyone was happier. As added proof, two dates came out of the evening. Perhaps meaningful conversation also makes us more attractive?

Perhaps sometimes. And sometimes, perhaps not.

People love playing games. Because they know - at some point it will be safely over.

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/banning-small-talk
Image source: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/369084131936567037/

The table manners of pets.

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Somewhere in Austria, in the middle of nowhere there is a lovely restaurant with a beautiful outside area. Cows on the hill, something like 5 meters away do not bother neither visitors, nor the owners. But dogs do. They inspired the owner to add a little poem to his menu saying, basically, that he doesn't mind having the dogs in the restaurant sitting on the chairs or benches as long as they have table manners. And use the cutlery.
The table manners of dogs are universal concern. And teaching dogs and the restaurant staff good table manners up to the level of certificate is no joke.  Say, for example, Venice.

According to mysuncoast.com the following regulation is in place:
In order to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the public, a restaurant is prohibited from having any dog on its premises unless it possesses a valid city permit for Dog Friendly Dining. All permits issued are subject to the following requirements, according to the city code:
•    All restaurant employees shall wash their hands promptly after petting or otherwise handling any dog. Employees shall be prohibited petting or otherwise handling any dog while serving food or beverages, or handling tableware or before entering other parts of the restaurant.
•    Patrons in a designated outdoor area shall be advised that they should wash their hands before eating. Waterless hand sanitizers shall be provided at all tables there.
•    Employees and patrons shall be instructed that they shall not allow dogs to come into contact with tabletops, serving dishes, utensils, tableware, linens, paper products, or any other items involved in food service operations.
•    Dogs shall not be allowed to eat any food.
•    Patrons shall keep their dogs on a leash at all times and keep their pets under reasonable control.
•    Dogs shall not be allowed on chairs, tables or other furnishings.
•    All table and chair surfaces shall be cleaned and sanitized with an approved product between seating of patrons. Spilled food and drink shall be removed from the floor or ground between seatings as well.

•    Accidents involving dog waste shall be cleaned immediately and the area sanitized with an approved product. A kit with the appropriate materials for this purpose shall be kept near the designated outdoor area.
•    At least one sign reminding employees of Doggy Dining rules shall be posted in a conspicuous location frequented by employees within the restaurant.
•    At least one sign reminding patrons of the rules shall be posted in a conspicuous location within the designated outdoor area.
•    At all times while the designated outdoor section of the restaurant is available to patrons and their dogs, at least one sign shall be posted in a conspicuous and public location near the entrance to the designated outdoor area, to place patrons on notice that the section is currently available to patrons accompanied by their dog.
•    Dogs shall not be permitted to travel through indoor or undesignated outdoor portions of the restaurant, and ingress and egress to the designated outdoor area shall not require entrance into or passage through any indoor or undesignated outdoor portion of the eatery.
•    All restaurants participating in the Dog Friendly Dining program shall provide and maintain a drinking water station for patrons' dogs and dogs in general.
Anyone at a restaurant observing these rules being broken – such as dogs on patrons' laps or eating food at the table, or servers not washing their hands after petting a dog – should contact the city Code Enforcement Department by calling 941-486-2626.

The space between the bites.

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We were on the way back from the classical music concert. I was in the middle of trying to explain politely why no applause is expected between the movements. And than she said :" but you are just a snob!" We are still friends though. And she doesn't clap anymore between Largo and Allegretto. At least when I am there. Pretentious? Moi?

I would prefer to see myself as a holistic perceiver. The one that sees the shapes and the spaces in between as a whole. As one piece of art where shapes and emptiness are united in a way which creates the beauty of the whole. Where shapes can not be detached from the emptiness which actually makes them the shapes. The beauty of a shape doesn't exist without some space around it.

The same about food. Space full of conversations, delightful activities. Attentive listening. Productive activities. Or mindless wondering.
If you eat non-stop you just simply lose it. The beauty of eating goes away.
A lovely, much more down-to-earth piece about this. Full of irony too.

Public eating is fraught. If hotdogs at the cinema are OK, why not a bacon bap at a play?

Table manners start well before you get to the table.

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Saying where table manners start and where they end is not that easy. Yes, there is a word “table” in it, but you cannot say that the table manners apply only to the things we do around the table. What about cocktail parties? OK, then. Is it everything around food? That’s closer. It is considered to be a bad manner to serve food which is out of season. And no doubt serving the food which is slightly off is no go either. Hence the infographic below has a lot to do with table manners. How to keep your food fresh longer.

We know what you ate ...

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Keeping a diary of what you eat is not an easy thing to do.  Answering the stranger's question on what went into your mouth is even more difficult.

Apparently, the majority of people get it wrong when reporting on food consumption of yesterday. Or just don't want to open up. It is, after all, not that easy to admit even to yourself that yes, you did eat that second piece of cake.

The bigger people are, the more modest they seem to be when it comes to the dreading "What did you eat last night?" question.

But you don't have to say a word, not any more.  And you possibly wouldn't.  Doesn't sound like a dinner table topic.

A urine test that can reveal how healthy your meals are has been developed by UK scientists.

New Year - new rules?

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"There are plenty of media features on etiquette starting with “There isn’t enough respect to X Y Z today.” It is a famous old adage you would find to a certain extent in any generation when people start noticing that police and doctors look a bit like children. Etiquette is changing together with the society, as good manners are there to keep society progressing, not to hold it back.

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” (Socrates, 2016) .

Nothing has changed, I have to admit—just the means for chatting."

Tanya Kosh Are You in or Are You Out? 

The rules of snobbery are changing too. And as it has been published in Tatler, it might be official.
Apparently, paper napkins are in. But cleaning your fork with your knife in the mid-air is still out.

http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/december-2016/tatler-guide-to-snobbery

Has your own list of rules changed?

Dinner for one. The most famous English movie in Germany, Switzerland and Austria

which is hardly known in the UK.
It is shown every New Year Eve. It was in the Guinness book of records till 1995 as the most repeated TV show in the world. They don't have this category anymore though.

When my German colleagues talked to me for the first time about it they thought I was some sort of recluse in London. Or lunatic. But clearly without TV.

I had to get on YouTube to understand what they were talking about.
No, I've never seen it on any of the British TV channels. Not around New Year eve, not at any other time of the year.
I was happy to read this article by William Horsley. Made me feel sane again. I am not the only brit who missed it.

Germany feasts on Dinner for One - BBC News

The movie is very short. There are only two actors there and the festive table set for few more people. Worth watching.

Happy New Year!

Tanya Kosh and your "How to Eat" team 

The basic needs and basic manners

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"If you look at the whole range of table manners you notice in different cultures, you should be able to see the similarities. It is not about food only. Table manners evolved together with the development of humanity and its needs.
The table manners across the world are clearly serving three common purposes:
·           mere survival of humanity in general and individuals in particular;
·           amplification of enjoyment of food consumption; and
·           social identification and self-esteem, and in some rather extreme cases like mine, self-actualisation." 

You can read more about classification of table manners

 in Kosh’s Are You in or Are You Out?

• The classification is based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Hence the three major groups analysed in the book are

• “Health and Safety,”

• “The table of joy” and

• “ID rules”, fake and real ones

It is not only table manners changing with time. Some people argue the needs change too. But whether you accept the newly emerging manners as they come or not, you could be sure that they still will serve the old purposes even if with a modern twist to it. Did your mother tell you that the table should be dry when you put your battery on it?

Image source: http://overheard.liketodiscover.com/when-you-know-better-than-abraham-maslow/

Knife holders - in or out?

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Dogs, pigs, horses, elaborated designs - those are holders for the knives (the photo was taken in Dorotheum, main auction house in Vienna). Do they make the table more beautiful? What do you think?

"If you go to Dorotheum in Austria, the main auction house of the country, you will find millions of embellishments to the table. Just a couple of examples. Knife stands, which have no function rather than decorative one. You can’t put the knife you used on it. The tiniest bit of gravy will immediately end up on the table clothes. Gravity is still in place on this planet. “Bone holders,” which are tiny trays with special hooks to be adjusted to the plate.

Either poultry was much smaller previously, or they never ever were used for any other purpose than to show that you are “in the know.” Gravy/sauce holders adjusted to the plates in a similar manner. While those are at least useful to prevent all of your food being soaked in sauce, especially if the latter has a rather strong taste, I was strongly advised against them and was told a couple of horror stories about sauce holders ending on the table and all the juices on the diners. While many of these things could be very beautiful in a way some figurines are, they are nothing else to the table than “decorations and cutesies” and superfluous accessories.

This is the function any other fashion has. If you can demonstrate you are fully conversant with what is in vogue, you move immediately couple of steps up the hierarchy ladder within your own social group. You are not only“in,” you might even become a trend-setter."

"ARE YOU IN OR ARE YOU OUT? Inclusivity and exclusivity of table manners"

by Tanya Kosh 

Technology and Table Manners

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Technology has a very interesting impact not only on our table manners (mobile on the table during business lunch is more of a norm rather than exception today), but also on what and how we eat.

A rather interesting article on Instagram influence.

"Once these Instagram-friendly foods go viral, they can completely change the way we eat. Breakfast, for example, has shifted from a decidedly unphotogenic cereal or marmalade on toast to the bright hues of avocado toast (there are nearly 250,000 #avocadotoast hashtagged photos on Instagram) and smoothie bowls. Even the humble fry-up has been rebranded, in the hands of the Hemsley sisters, as an oven-baked, meticulously arranged, “healthier” big breakfast. It looks great and presumably tastes awful, the oven tray divided into neat strips of colour, from leathery lean oven bacon to overdone eggs.

Among the foods billed to gain traction in 2017, today’s Waitrose report points to Hawaiian poke and even, in an alarming twist, vegetable yoghurts. No doubt these will be helped along in the likeability stakes with their colourful, snappy Instagram vibe."

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/02/click-plate-how-instagram-changing-way-we-eat-food

The really good table manners are...

... those, which make everyone feel good. You, people with whom you share food and everyone else involved.

Bad Habits. The worst of it.

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image: http://www.justinm.tk/2016/05/bad-habits-related-to-health.html

Bad manners differ in type and magnitude. The Telegraph came up with the list of the 20 most annoying. Some of them are directly connected to table manners, some are not. Interestingly enough, those which are not could be possibly even more annoying  if practised at the table. Just  imagine that... Oh, no. Better not. Don't.  Just read the article without visualising it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/20-of-the-worst-bad-habits---how-many-are-you-guilty-of/

The influence of McDonald's

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Etiquette is not fixed. It changes. It develops together with the society. You don't need a revolution for this. New technology, new business entering the country. They might pretend they follow your rules and accept your manners.. They even adapt their signs to fit your environment, like McDonald's in Salzburg (Austria)

Interestingly enough, the influence of McDonald's on etiquette is so big, that people even do their degrees studying it.

The Influence of McDonald’s on Chinese Etiquette

Would YOU try it?

When I was young, together with a couple of friends I did a very cruel thing. I ordered THIS for my colleague. We were abroad, she didn't speak the language. It was easy. We just said those were the chicken bits. Special recipe. She liked the dish. But didn't like us when we confessed and left the table immediately with a rather wan face.


* Cuisses-de-grenouille: frogs' legs. Well, not legs. Cuisses means thighs. It is a French attempt to make frogs seem sensual.

More on intricacies of French cuisine here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/articles/The-offal-truth-about-French-cuisine/

Do you need a table for table manners?

No, not really...

Quiz: American table manners

Not sure about asking for second helpings. I would rather refrain. What if your hosts doesn't have enough to serve you? And anyway, refraining is clearly beneficial for your waist.

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=table-manners-true-t-or-false-f-quiz

Lemon gadgets

Many things have been invented around the table. Some of them stay, some of them go.
There are many ways to squeeze lemon.
This one I found in Zagreb, Croatia.

Cherishing food

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Table manners are about the most important thing for humans. They are about food. Food has fascinated artists for centuries. Still life continues to be a subject of choice for many talented painters today. Let us introduce you to just one of them, 
Brett Humphries and his solo exhibition at Catto  Gallery in London

"...astonishing paintwork brings a hyper-real quality to the food items, vases and utensils that populate his world. His berries are just very very berry."