Eating with/without utensils

I see what everyone else is doing and then I do that w/r/t eating utensils (the When in Rome approach)

Think of all of the wonderful foods we eat with our hands.
Tacos, sandwiches, pizza, ribs, fried chicken, carrots, celery, everything...

Oh yeah that's all wonderful. I said when in Rome because there are certain things that I'm not sure about. Asparagus is one of those things. I'm pretty sure that it's acceptable to eat as a finger food but you don't really see people doing it so I rarely do even though I really want to.

I am eating dinner with my hands right now.

On the other hand, I'm aware of how to properly eat soup (scoop away) and always hold my knife in my right hand and hold my fork with my left hand. (thanks 4th gr manners class!)

In Spain they have a special utensil for eating asparagus! I eat it with my fingers at home though. Fork in public.

I get self conscious about it because I am licking my fingers and I may be touching you with my hands later on

totally depends on what i'm eating

No biggie dayo, just wash hands after meal.

Eating with your hands is a lot more fun in most cases, that's for sure.

I also do the same regarding asaparagus. One day tho I wanna pick it up in public and have someone stare at me so I can be all, "It's finger food you ignoramus!". You know what are sort of awkward to eat publicly? Artichokes.

things that you just have to eat with your hands:

drumsticks
ribs
eggs

lasagne with hands is a social nightmare, i'm never going back to that restaurant

no to eggs

Toast

I eat things with hands if I have a choice, sometimes I eat food with other foods if I get especially lazy

I grew up eating with my hands, eating indian food I guess, but now I use utensils when other people are around

I will eat with my hands whenever I can why because it is enjoyable (but only if it's socioculturally appropriate)
this is my vote btw -- when i can, i actively enjoy eating food with my hands, but if it's not appropriate, i won't force it (and i like using chopsticks more than fork/knife)
i used to eat noodles with my fingers when i was a kid, and have very positive memories of the first time i went to an ethiopian restaurant in DC and ppl were like "but u gotta eat with your HANDS" and i was secretly happy about that

on the top and bottom are the asparagus utensils used by spaniards

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5268261915_578b8abce7.jpg

the thing in the middle is a "knife-fork" -- a thing you cut with, and then spear with

here is another photo of the asparagus holders
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5268259467_a7fd53ffc0.jpg

that is before we shined them with toothpaste btw
afterwards they were sparkling

so where does licking the plate come into this?

I was at something where silveware adoption in history came up in zinging/conversation (prob watching Game of Thrones tbh) and I said that forks were a relatively recent invention and had been looked on w great suspicion by some civilizations.

They laughed and were like this is the history lecture that always happens when laurel comes over. :(

Before you lick the plate, do you use utensils? That is the question.

Laurel -- This poll is all about personal preference, so any answer you give is "correct"

I view my tongue as an alternate utensil. Unfortunately, society has other opinions.

"I see what everyone else is doing and then I do that w/r/t eating utensils (the When in Rome approach)" fwiw. Though I will always eat burger or pizza w/out utensils, regardless of how impractical it is.

Oh I already voted. I just like to think about forks as tools of the foppish French, when a real man's utensil was a knife, and only a knife.

chopsticks, bruv

When in Rome. Although I tend to lean towards utensils when practical because I don't like my fingers to get all food-covered.

I totally eat asparagus with my fingers when I'm home.

People who eat burgers with a knife and fork should be embarrassed, really.

btw, eating your eggs with toast (as a utensil) is still eating with your hands -- if you are scooping up one thing with another thing using ONLY your hands, that is eating with one's hands

I like to cut my burgers in half with a knife, and then eat the individual halves with my hands.

i wonder if anyone will vote "other"

"I eat with a complicated pulley system"

that falls under "other (i am neurotic about my utensils)"

Will anyone vote "utensils always"??

...will anyone vote?

it's late at night...are you really going to use utensils?
no, you are not.

i actually prefer eating burgers or similar with a knife and fork bc i have a small mouth and can never get a grip on it without overstuffing myself and half choking to death/looking ridiculous

/embarrassed

I see what everyone else is doing and then I do that w/r/t eating utensils (the When in Rome approach)

Not happy with the passivity implied here. How about "I do whatever is culturally appropriate, which I already know thanks to my immense erudition; all others around me then do the same due to the force of my personality."

You're all savages. I eat with my elbows.

I wd think I was somewhere in between "when in Rome" and "enjoyable only if socioculturally appropriate", but it often happens that I go out with people I barely know and order a pizza/burger/sandwich which I start eating with my hands, and then everyone else's food arrives and they all start using knives and forks

so I guess I fail on those counts of social acceptability

;_;

http://www.netbrawl.com/uploads/6215fb1d90d4aa7449e210993ec702a2.jpg

who here eats pizza with a knife and fork? I know I do sometimes!!

restaurants: always. takeaway: never.

depends on whether i'm in italy or not tbh * mwah dahling

If it's not sliced then I'll probably use a knife and fork, though if the base is especially resistant to small, fiddly cuts and fork-spearing I might just slice it myself and use fingers.

If it is sliced then I'll look around nervously to see what everyone else does.

Would prefer always to use hands for burgers/sandwiches, hate it when I find myself at a table full of burger-utensilers (probably a 12" on Kompakt circa 1998) and feel like I ought to do the same

cutlery on burgers is a nonsense, bill

Food and utensil now one thing. No more confusion. No more mess.

http://static1.consumerist.com/dipdatchicken.jpg

I eat pizza with a knife and fork when it's too hot to pick up with my hands.

on the top and bottom are the asparagus utensils used by spaniards

La Lechera - there don't seem to be an awful lot of options for those asparagus tongs and many of the offerings on ebay are crazy expensive. Is there a spanish word for them that could aid in my search? They are very, very cool.

I'm not sure -- they belong to my Spanish coworker who inherited them from her parents. They're antiques I think. Not sure if this is the best/only result, and I will check further once I make it to work -- but I found this http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-122910588-2-pinzas-para-esparragos-antiguas-inglaterra-1920-_JM

Search for pinzas esparragos and if you want antiques, antiguas

Yeah, they are mostly antiques. I did find a new pair of stainless steel ones on Amazon, but they aren't as cool as yours.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41F%2B6IkNaAL._SL500_SX300_SY390_CR,0,0,300,390_.jpg

Is "prehensile tail" covered under "other?"

Yes. Also covered: "I only spear food with toothpicks (plastic or wood, with or without umbrellas)"

Umbrellas, please.

Why becuase they look delcious

I only eat with miniature plastic swords.

When in Rome, really though I like eating with my hands and with utensils. It really depends on the circumstances and the food. Ppl give me shit for eating pizza with a knife and fork but I also love eating chicken with my hands so, whatever.

There's so much socioeconomic weight to manners and eating with proper utensils that I was sure someone would get irrationally angry about something. Guess not.

Oh I would! But we may have done that once or twice already.

That's never stopped us from talking about tacos and burritos again. Or pizza.

It's a seasonal hobby, not a once in a lifetime experience.

Hmm. I like going to stores that sell dishes in Chinatown and handling all the glossy glossy ceramics, esp those little porcelain soup dinghies I mean spoons. Should make soup more, soup with big globby DUMPLINGS! in it or something, to justify them.

I like those stores too. I buy all of my pasta/soup bowls at the ones around my workplace.

And then I eat noodles out of them with my bare hands.

love eating salad without utensils

me too
there's something about eating vegetables with my hands that is way more fun than scooping with a shovel, aka a "fork"

Eating Ethiopian food with injera. Yum.

Oh man, I just came here to post Ethiopian. I just got to do a photo shoot at an Ethiopian restaurant a couple weeks ago. They brought out a TON of food and beer, we shot it, and then we ate/drank it all.

Looooove.

Eventually all things tend toward inerja

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

this is the perfect opportunity to mention that i got two free pieces of homemade injera from a student the other day
i wonder if this poll will get more than 5 votes
my guess is no

the When in Rome approach

Wouldn't it be weird to see someone eating a banana with a knife and fork?

That's ridiculous. Bananas are one of the funnest foods to eat with your hands

i ate nigirizushi with no utensils recently but i felt like a disgusting savage

bananas come with their own holster

but sometimes i like to eat them with chocolate sauce or possibly caramel drizzled on top, and then i usually use a fork

weird, some of my favorite sushi bars in japan don't even present you with chopsticks unless you order something that requires them.

well, this is america, people are weird

I mean the chef's hands are way more dirtier than yours* (*ymmv), it's kinda weird that some people think that it's okay for them to be handling bare-handed what you're putting in your mouth, but heaven forbid you do the same?

Are all food handling customs based necessarily based on logic? I think it's more that it's (incorrectly?) perceived as being uncouth here?

ugh question marks

I gave Mr Veg a hard time for eating a battered fish fillet with his hands in a sit-down pub; he thinks I'm nuts. My thing is, if it's served to you on a plate and there's a knife and fork handy, you should generally use the knife and fork. Fries and things like that are fine for fingers... even 'bite sized' things maybe, but to me a whole piece of fish shouldn't be eaten with your hands unless it comes wrapped in butcher paper from the fish & chip shop.

I have a couple of friends who will pick at EVERYTHING on their plate with their fingers, like they never learned how to use a knife and fork as kids or something. It's like watching a toddler eat, but way more gross when it's an adult.

I guess I'm kind of a spaz.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

well done, ilx (aside from the three super uptight individuals)