Stuff to eat, drink & etiquette (part 5)

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
STUFF TO EAT, DRINK & ETIQUETTE (PART 5)
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CHIC TECHNIQUES
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CHOPSTICKS
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Directions

Pick up one chopstick as you would a pencil, in the middle of the chopstick, holding it between the base of your thumb and your index finger, using your third and fourth fingers for support. This leaves your index finger free. Place the second chopstick parallel to the first, holding it firmly between the thumb and index finger. The first chopstick remains stationary, while the second one is used as a lever. Rather than lowering head to plate, lift the small bowls of rice to just below your mouth for eating. Place the chopsticks across your bowl or plate between bites or at the end of the meal. Some Japanese restaurants provide a small ceramic piece on which to rest your chopsticks. Don't be embarrassed to ask for help, and if you are more comfortable using a fork, ask for one. CREPES, BLINTZES AND TORTILLAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are almost as many kinds of crêpes as there are Frenchmen in Aisne, for every ethnic group has its own form of the stuffed pancake. A dessert crepe (crepe suzette or blini) is eaten with a fork and spoon. Cutting and eating are done with the spoon; stabilizing, with the fork. The blintze, a thin pancake rolled around a cheese or fruit filling and either fried or baked, is eaten with a knife and fork. It is often accompanied by sour cream, a dollop of which can be placed on each piece. Never dip a piece of blintze into the sour cream. The Chinese crepe may be filled with a mixture of meat (pork is typical), sauce and lettuce. It is rolled and eaten from the hand. Hot tortillas may be folded in quarters and buttered. Or you may hold one flat in your hand or on a plate, put some beans or other mixture in the center and roll it like a cigar. Eat from one end to the other. FINGER BOWLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finger bowls are genuinely helpful after eating artichokes, shellfish, corn on the cob, asparagus or any other handheld food. And they're easier to use than you might think. Just dip the fingers of one hand and then the other into the bowl, and wipe them with a napkin. Never bring the water to your mouth. After you've used a finger bowl presented on a dessert plate, pick up the dessert silver (if it is on the plate) and put it to either side of the plate, then lift the finger bowl and its doily and place it to the left of the plate. This requires two hands. FONDUE ~~~~~~ For cheese fondue, spear a piece of bread on a fondue fork and dip it into the pot of hot cheese. Coat it and remove it from the cheese, but hold it over the pot for a few seconds to drip and cool, then eat. Try not to touch the fork with your lips or tongue, because it goes back in the pot. For a meat fondue, plunge a speared piece of meat into the hot oil to cook. When it looks as if it's done to your requirements, the meat is removed to a plate and eaten with a regular fork while your next piece is cooking. Accompanying the meat fondue is usually a choice of sauces; put these sauces on your dinner plate with either a ladle or serving spoon. Then, with your knife, push some sauce onto the dinner fork you've used to spear the meat. HOW TO DRINK IT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drinking coffee, tea and other hot drinks from a mug is common in informal settings. A saucer may be provided underneath for you to put your teaspoon on. Most often, though, there isn't one. If there are paper mats, the spoon may be placed facedown on one of them, or on the edge of a butter plate or dinner plate.

Don't drink from a mug with a spoon in it, not least because you run the risk of

Submitted By SAM LEFKOWITZ On 10-18-95

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