Wow! Eating Manners

By CHERRY MORIONES-DOROMAL

April 26, 2011, 3:42pm

(Cherry D. at Pebble Beach,Monterey) Red wine: Hold the glass at the bottom of the bowl where it meets the stem

MANILA,Philippines -- Filipinos are known to be food lovers and perhaps, they (we) may be considered as the most flexible ones when we talk about eating.

Colloquially, we call ourselves “cowboys” or down-to-earth— meaning, it’s, generally, not a bunch of big deal as to where, what or how we eat, especially in an informal get- together.  How we socialize is what is crucial.

You might remember how Former President Erap (Estrada), on several occasions, ate by hand with the masses.

Eating by hand, ladies and gentlemen , means no fork, no spoon, no chopsticks, no utensils. That stratagem had given President Estrada extra publicity.

Military and police officers have the thing called boodle fight wherein rice meal with assorted toppings is served in long banana leaves lined-up on a long table and shared by the whole battalion.  There’s no plate whatsoever and everybody eats on the same banana leaf. Once more, they eat by hand.

Despite our culture, it is inevitable for us to attend formal occasions and get the chance to see a more convoluted table setting like having three glasses, nine utensils, three plates in front of us.  Hence, learning and practicing table etiquette is a must.

Now, here’s a refresher course. The basic rule in utensils is to start from the outside of your place setting, and work your way toward the main meal plate (service plate).  Start with your soup spoon, followed by fish knife and fork, then service knife and fork.

It is often recommended that the salad fork is set to the left of the dinner fork. However, you will encounter formal settings where the dinner fork is placed to the left of the salad fork instead; that is to suggest that the guest looks forward to the main meal before helping himself to the salad.

For cold foods or buffets, let the host announce dinner and wait until the chief guest starts dishing. Sometimes, the host directs the guests as to the manner of approaching the buffet table. For instance, if it is by table number or by wing (guests from left wing or right wing goes to which buffet table), the same is being announced.

Another informative note as culinary experts suggest is that you may start eating hot food when it is served. You do not necessarily have to wait for everyone to begin.

The way to eat:

1. In a buffet set-up.  Begin with appetizers, cold cuts, etc. You may skip this part and begin with soup or salad instead if you find it too filling. As a personal tip, what I do is  that I discreetly  and stylishly nose around all the choices before I decide on which dishes or entrees to take.  I understand that having hundreds of choices may be a perplexing experience.

In the country , we have the thing called “takaw-mata” (voracious eyes) wherein we tend to get too much food beyond what we can normally eat. This is not only a major turn off and obnoxious, it is unhealthful as well. Hence, it is recommended that we do not overload our platter with food.  We can always change plate and come back for more.

2. Bread. Before buttering, it is ideal that you break rolls, muffins or slices of bread by hand in half or into bite size. That is break, then butter, break then butter sequence. What I mean is that you do not break the bread into tiny pieces all at the same time and pick them up as if you are eating peanuts.

3. Bacon. If it is crisp, crumble it with a fork and eat with your fingers. If there’s fat on it, eat with a knife and fork.

4. Finger foods.   If finger meals are offered on a platter, don’t put them into your mouth right away. Place them on your plate first. Also, follow the cue of your host.

5. Prawns and Shrimps. In parties, use knife and fork (whenever available) or spoon and fork to take off the head and skin.  I know how flavorsome the shrimp head is, but please avoid sucking the head of your shrimps while creating a wild sound and disrupting the other guests.

6. Foods eaten by hand: corn on the cob, spareribs (of course, not the ones in sinigang soup), lobster, clams and oysters on the half shell, chicken wings, chicken lollipops (in informal settings), sandwiches, certain fruits like bananas, olives, celery, dry cakes , veggie strips meant for dipping (eg. carrots,turnips) and cookies.

To end with today’s tips, when something gets into your mouth such as an inedible or unpalatable stuff and you want to spew it out, what do you do? For bigger bones other than fish bones and other pieces of food you don’t appreciate, the rule is that you covertly spit them into your serviette/napkin, so that you keep the stuff behind the scene.

On the other hand, olive pits  must be dropped delicately into your palm before putting them onto your plate. For chicken bones, use your fork to drop them into the plate. Fish bones are meant to be removed with your fingers.

Bye for now. I hope I made you smile today as we learn.

Source: Manila Bulletin