How to Eat Tricky Foods
Artichokes are eaten with the fingers, removing one leaf at a time. Dip the soft end into the sauce and pull it
through your teeth to remove the edible part. Discard the rest. Use a knife to scrape the fuzzy part off the heart and
then eat it with a fork and knife, dipping it first into the sauce offered.
Asparagus is considered finger food in Europe. In the United States it can be eaten as finger food, provided
there's no drippy sauce, or by cutting inch-sized pieces from the stem and eating them with a fork.
Bacon should be eaten with a fork and knife unless it's very crisp, when you can eat it with your fingers.
Cake can be eaten with fingers if it's cut bite-sized and not sticky. Use a fork if not; if served with sauce or ice cream,
use both fork and spoon.
Celery, Olives, Pickles and Radishes should be taken from serving piece with your fingers and placed on
the side of your dinner plate. Eat them with your fingers. If olives are large and un-pitted, hold it in your fingers and eat
it with several small bites. If pitted, eat them whole.
Caviar should be spread on toast with a knife and eaten with your fingers.
Chicken and Fowl require knife and fork unless served at a picnic, when it's fine to eat with your fingers.
Corn on the Cob should be eaten with two hands while holding the ear. Butter a few rows at a time only and eat
them before going on for more. This is a food only served at very casual occasions and not in Europe, where it is
considered food for livestock. On picnics, count on three large paper napkins per person!
Eggs. Use your fork for hard-boiled eggs. Use a spoon to eat soft-boiled eggs directly from the shell. Use your
knife to slice off the cap. You can also scoop soft-boiled eggs from the shell into a small plate and eat them with a
spoon.
Shrimp are eaten with fingers if tails are left on. Shrimp cocktail is eaten with a seafood fork in two bites if large.
Better still to place them on a serving plate and cut with knife and fork. Don't try to eat the tabs left on shrimp at a
cocktail party. Discard them in any little plate you find, or crumble them in a cocktail napkin.
Lobsters should be eaten with a seafood fork to extract the meat after the claws have been cracked with a
nutcracker. Cut large pieces first with a fork. Pull off the small claws and clean them as if you were drawing through a
straw, eat stuffed lobster with a knife and fork. Hard-shelled crabs are eaten just like lobster.
© 2012 Spaghetti is eaten a few strands at a time, twirling them around the tines of your fork, Some persons support the
spaghetti with a spoon, but this is not considered refined, especially in Europe. Small-sized pasta, such as ziti,
penne, etc., requires only a fork. You can use a piece of a roll as a “pusher” if you're having a hard time.
Potatoes. Eat baked potatoes from the skin with a fork, then eat the skin with knife and fork if you like, Add butter
from your butter plate with a fork, but do not mash the contents of the potato. Chips and shoestring potatoes are finger
food. French fries should be cut in half and eaten with a fork.
Sandwiches. Use a knife and fork to eat open-faced sandwiches. Large sandwiches should be cut into quarters to
eat with the fingers or use a knife and fork. Tea sandwiches and canapés are finger food.
Tortillas are eaten from the end, rolled up on the hand or plate.
Avocados are either eaten with a spoon from their shells or use a fork when cut into pieces.
Bananas are eaten with a knife and fork after peeling when served at the table. If not, peel and eat as you go.
Berries should be eaten with a spoon, except for strawberries served with stems, which are held by the stem and
eaten in a bite or two after dipping into sugar or sauce.
Grapefruit halves should be sectioned so the meat is easily obtained. Eat the sections with a spoon and never
squeeze the juice.
Lemon wedges are secured by the fork and pressed with the other hand. It is also acceptable to pick up with your
fingers and press the juice out. “Lemon panties” are cheesecloth sleeves with an elastic band, designed to fit over a
lemon cut in half, so as one squeezes the lemon, it contains the seeds. These usually are used in upscale
restaurants that serve lobster and seafood.
Oranges and Tangerines should be peeled with a sharp knife or the fingers and then eaten section by
section with the fingers. If served on a plate in slices, use your fork.
Peaches should be halved, then quartered with a knife, eat them with a fork. It’s fine to eat the skin or to pull it
away from the flesh with a knife or your fingers.
Pineapple is eaten with either a spoon when served in small pieces, or fork when sliced.
Watermelon when cut into small pieces, is eaten with a spoon, otherwise use your fork. Put the seeds into the palm
of your hand to transfer to side of the plate. If you're eating it out of doors, forget cutlery, but don't ever spit the seeds.
© 2012