How to hold the plug?

You need to hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right. This rule is familiar to each of us from early childhood. Someone literally from the cradle absorbs all the rules of behavior at the table, and someone needs to re-learn all the intricacies of etiquette in adulthood.

In order not to get into an awkward situation during a dinner party, you should know the basic rules of etiquette and understand exactly which table item for which dish is intended.

Using ordinary cutlery at home is one thing, but in a cafe or restaurant is quite another. At home, we relax and do not always remember how and what to do according to etiquette. But at a dinner at a party or a restaurant nobody wants to be in an awkward situation. Therefore, it is worth remembering the elementary rules of behavior at the table, so as not to be mistaken.

There are general rules that state which table item should be held in the right hand and which in the left hand:

• If the knife is in the right hand, the fork should be in the left. In this case, she acts more like an assistant, since the main thing in this game is the knife.
• Hold the cutlery so that the teeth are always pointing down, the end of the handle of the table object should rest against your palm.
• As for the knife, then it should be kept correctly. The index finger of the right hand should be positioned so that you can easily press on the blade of the table object. The end of the knife should also rest against the palm.

• You can not hold dining items in his hand as if you hold a pencil. Also, do not take them too close to the base.
• Usually with these two dining items eating meat dishes. If you properly hold the table items in your hands, it will be easy to cut off small pieces of meat.

You also need to know the basic rules about how to eat the dishes properly:

• A small piece of meat, for example, needs to be properly pinned into the teeth. The index finger of the left hand should be tightly pressed to the handle of the cutlery, slightly pressing. Then gently send food to your mouth.
• You can not immediately divide the whole steak into small pieces and continue to eat with a fork in your right hand. It should be cut off each time piece.

• Cut off a small piece of meat, set aside cutlery, gently putting their tips on the edge of the plate while chewing.
• If you are served meatballs, cabbage rolls, scrambled eggs or casseroles, then in this case you can use one fork and hold it in your right hand. Tilt the fork so that its edge can be broken off a piece of food. Then puncture it and enjoy the food.

• The use of a knife while serving such a dish as stuffed cabbage is also allowed.
• When eating a meat dish with a side dish, it is quite possible that the fork can replace a tablespoon. For example, if mashed potato or rice as a side dish. It is worth remembering that in order to get the right side dish on the fork, its teeth should look upwards. Small particles of the dish, mashed potatoes and other side dishes, various salads need to be taken with scooping movements from themselves.

• Do not put a lot of side dishes or lettuce on the fork, otherwise you may get into an unpleasant situation. Food may not hold onto the teeth and fall into the plate. Or to eat it all, you have to open your mouth wide and indecently.
• Complex sandwiches should not be eaten with the hands, but with a knife and fork.

• Salad can be eaten without using a knife. Impaling of large pieces is allowed.
• If during the meal you decide to pause and, for example, go dancing, then you should fold the devices on a plate crosswise, so that the waiter will understand that the dish cannot be picked up yet.

• Fruits such as an apple or banana should be eaten with a knife and fork.
• Meat cuts, large pieces of meat, meat rolls and sausages should be eaten by the same rules as the main meat dish. Carefully take a piece of meat and place it on your plate, and then, cutting off into small portions, you can safely taste.
• After the end of the meal, cutlery that you used, you need to put directly on the plate parallel to each other. After use, it is strictly forbidden to put them directly on a table or napkin.

In order to feel confident during a dinner party, you need to know not only how to properly hold a fork, knife or spoon, but also to know what this particular cutlery is for.

There are fish, meat, dessert forks, etc. Each of them differs from another in the number of teeth, as well as in size:

• Cutlery with four prongs - This is a fork, which is called the dining room. It is widely used for consuming the second course. In particular, various kinds of cutlets, steaks, cabbage rolls, casseroles, omelettes, etc. It is easy to learn, because it must always correspond to the diameter of the plate. This item of the cutlery during the serving you need to put the teeth up next to the main plate.

• Slightly smaller in size but also with four prongs - this is snack bar. As a rule, it is used for hot and cold snacks. It should be located on the left side of the fish.

• Fish - this fork with four prongs. But its shape can be very diverse: rounded edges, recess between the teeth, etc. The shape of this cutlery directly depends on what fish will be served on the table. This device should be to the left of the table fork.

• By the way, the plug intended for herring, different from the usual fish. Its difference is that it has only two teeth. A device for, for example, sprat has four and sometimes five teeth, the ends of which are connected by a single jumper.

Seafood has its own dining items that are easy to distinguish both in shape and in number of teeth:

• For shrimp there is a device with two teeth, which is distinguished by its length.
• For cold cocktails and snacks from various kinds of seafood there is a device with three teeth, one of which should be longer and sharper.
• For lobsters, a device with small curved teeth.

All cutlery designed for seafood, arranged in the order in which they will serve dishes.

• Dessert - intended for fruit pies, cakes and other tasty and sweet pastries. She has only three prongs. It is placed directly above the plate, the teeth should be directed to the right.

• Fruit or salad - this cutlery is equipped with only two teeth. As a rule, together with such a fork in a pair should be a fruit knife.

For information on how to properly hold a fork and use other cutlery, see the following video.