Let’s say you’re sitting at the dinner table, and you have a big steak in front of you. Or you’re sitting at the breakfast table with a pile of waffles on your plate. Or it’s brunch on a cruise ship, and you decided to have both waffles and steak because you “have” to take advantage of the all-inclusive (hey, I don’t judge).
.
.
The point is, there’s nothing more annoying than having to use your knife and fork to cut your food up. I mean, somebody (maybe not you, but somebody) already went through a bunch of working trying to prepare this meal, so what’s the deal? Some eaters, like the guy sitting on the living room couch in his skivvies with a pile of waffles and steak on his plate, avoid the cutting-up conundrum altogether by stabbing the whole lot in the middle with a fork and downing it state fair style. They will likely continue to do this until the invention of meals you can sip through a straw.
.
For the other 97 percent of the population who experience at least some sort of public exposure while eating, there are two ways to cut up your food: all at once or as-you-go. It’s pretty simple—you either use your fork and knife to saw off your bites one-by-one, or cut the whole thing up into bits at the beginning of the meal and eat away, home free.
.
Now I’m not one to take eating styles and assign them to totally unrelated personality traits—wait, who am I kidding? Yes I am. So…are you of the take-it-in-stride, flexible, and adaptable sort, cutting up your meat/waffles/pancakes as you go, adjusting bite size as you please? Or are you the prepare-in-advance, structured, scheduling type, who cuts up your food right away, consigning yourself to one bite size with the knowledge you will be able to eat your entire meal without hassle?
.
[poll id=”138″]
The following two tabs change content below.

Sam

My name is Sam and all I care about is food.

Latest posts by Sam (see all)

12 Responses

  1. hannah

    Maybe I’m old (under 30), but I was taught that it was rude to cut everything up ahead of time; good manners required that you cut as you go. Have times changed?

    Reply
  2. Belinda @zomppa

    What an interesting poll! I have to say I love cutting up as I go…it’s part of the fun…the process of savoring the meal. And who knows…mid-way, you might change up your bite size!

    Reply
  6. suicide_blond

    hybrid method (thats unmannerly– so dont tell my mom) i use the side of my fork for most cutting…and… if i cant saw it up with the side of my fork…i blame the chef for making my meal tooo tough.. 😉
    xoxo

    Reply
  8. stacey@Havoc&Mayhem

    Habit from dining with small kids, I cut everything up right away. It’s generally the only way I’ll be able to actually eat my meal in a timely manner. Cut theirs first & then while they start eating cut mine up so I can eat bites in between dealing with whatever their issue of the moment is. I’m just not that concerned with the size of the piece. If I want a bigger bite I’ll put two on my fork if I want a smaller one I’ll cut one in half with my fork.

    Reply
  9. Sam

    After spending way too long on the Wikipedia page about “eating utensil etiquette,” I believe you’re right, hannah – the proper way to eat is to cut your food up as you go.

    Reply
  10. Sara

    It’s interesting that you said steak and waffles because I always cut up my waffles right away, but then I always cut up a steak as I go.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.