We know what you ate ...

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Let us know what you think about table manners.

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?

www.howtoeat.net Let us know what you think about table manners.

"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?

BBC bring "Dinner for One" back home. Happy New Year to everyone!

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Let us know what you think about table manners.

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 

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

The basic needs and basic manners

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Let us know what you think about table manners.

"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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Let us know what you think about table manners.

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