<sf> wrote
>>
>>Okay. So, how do they not use their knife and fork properly? My mother
>>taught us to use the fork "curve up" and to cut our food into manageable
>>bites, then park our knives across the edge of the plate. Yet in Paris I
>>saw
>>people using their forks "curve down" and stabbing at things. Or are you
>>talking about not using a salad fork for salad, etc? Or maybe getting a
>>glob
>>of mashed potatoes on your fork then coating it in peas? Do tell.
>>
>
> I'm talking about "clubbing" eating utensils. There's a right way to
> hold your knife. Most people who weren't brought up eating with their
> hands in front of the TV know how it's done. Next thing I'll probably
> hear is that it's ok to wrap them up in a paper napkin and plop them
> to one side of the plate, just like they do at all the fine dining
> restaurants.
>
> http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/pro...ners-etiquette
>
>

Since it was *you* who posted this link, I actually watched this thing all
the way through. The "Last Supper" theme is hilarious! Nothing came as a
surprise except what they call the proper way to eat soup--spooning it away
from yourself. I seem to recall something about that from long ago, but I
don't eat soup that way. The rest was either stuff my mother taught us or
common sense. As an example of the latter, I have never been told not to
butter a whole piece of bread in formal dining, but for some reason do
indeed break off small bits of bread and butter them a bit at a time. As for
"clubbing" eating utensils, I have never seen that.