podcastsinenglish Level 2.128 Knife, fork and spoon
Oct 6, 2016
Hosts dive into the fascinating world of dining etiquette, exploring the quirks of cutlery usage across cultures. They tackle the confusion of mixed utensils, and compare European and American practices of knife-and-fork handling. Discover unique dining habits, like the Thai preference for forks and spoons instead of chopsticks. The conversation also highlights how pizza and burgers are enjoyed differently in the Americas and shares surprising insights about hand-eating sardines in Portugal. Cultural norms around table manners definitely vary globally!
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Inherited Cutlery Surprise
- The hosts received an old cutlery set with multiple sizes and specialty pieces like fish knives and soup spoons.
- They contrasted it with their existing basic set of knives, forks and spoons to show variety in utensils.
Different Fork-and-Knife Customs
- Eating styles differ by culture, including which hand holds which utensil during a meal.
- Europeans tend to keep fork left and knife right while many Americans switch the fork to the right after cutting.
Thai Utensil Surprise
- The hosts visited a Thai restaurant and were surprised when a customer asked for chopsticks.
- They explained that Thais typically use a fork and spoon due to reforms early in the 20th century to westernise utensils.