As
November moves on, many people are turning their thoughts to
Christmas. Across Europe and much of the rest of the world, Christmas
is the biggest family celebration of the year. Even in countries that
are not predominantly Christian, Christmas is fast becoming a time of
celebration, of sharing gifts and of meeting family and friends. One
of the great traditions of Christmas is the family dinner, either at
home or in a restaurant. For the uninitiated, the array of cutlery,
crockery and glassware laid out at this kind of meal can be quite
intimidating. Even more frightening, if you are hosting such a meal,
is the thought of laying out the place settings correctly. However,
fear not! Here follows our guide to the etiquette of tableware!
As with
most formal etiquette, there are a number of rules to be followed.
Don't worry too much about these, as in fact they make the job of
laying the table much easier to remember. Let's start with how to lay
out and use the cutlery needed for a multi-course meal. The first
rule is that the flatwear sits on the right of the plate, and the
forks on the left. Flatwear is just a collective way of saying knives
and spoons. This is a good starting point, but how do you know which
knife, fork or spoon to use for each course? When I was a child I was
told “start from the outside and work inwards”, and this rule is
very true. The place setting should be laid out so that the cutlery
on the outside is the first to be used. If the first course of your
meal is soup, a soup spoon should be placed on the far right of the
cutlery. The complete layout will depend on they number of courses
that are being served, and what each course contains. As an example,
if the meal is to be soup, followed by a fish course, followed by a
meat course, then the cutlery should be set out thus: on the right
hand side of the place will be a soup spoon on the outside, next in
will be a fish knife, and finally, closest to the plate will be a
meat knife. On the left hand side of the plate, the outside will be a
fish fork, and the inside will be the main course fork.
The
observant among you will have noticed that I have not mentioned
cutlery for eating dessert, the most important part of any meal! This
is because the dessert cutlery is placed above the place setting.
Dessert cutlery is usually a dessert spoon and a dessert fork; the
spoon is placed above the fork, and the handle of the spoon is to the
right, whereas the handle of the fork is to the left. In case you are
wondering about the difference between a dessert spoon and a soup
spoon, a soup spoon is always rounded, whereas a dessert spoon is
more oval in shape.
So that
is where the cutlery goes. Simple isn't it! What else do you need for
a perfect place setting? Usually, above the plate and to the left of
the dessert cutlery there will be a side plate. This is to be used
for bread if you are serving soup. It is also where the host will
place a napkin before the meal (unless the host is very artistic and
can arrange the napkin in a fancy shape, when it is permitted for
this to be placed in the centre of the setting!). Finally there are
the drinks' glasses to consider. Whether you are serving wine, water
or juices, the glasses will be placed above the plate and to the
right hand side of the dessert cutlery.
Now you
are ready to face a formal meal, confident that you know where
everything goes, and which knives, forks and spoons to use to eat
whatever food is served. Enjoy your meal, bon appetite!
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forget, if you want help with correct written English, visit our
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