River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-05-01
CULTURE AT THE TABLE.
Art SITS with Knives and Forks Rules
Governing the Conduct or Refined Din
ners-out- What 70 eat and How to Eat
tt-Vulagrities to be Avoided.

The best thing about plabe OF BOou
soup IS to know how to drink it, AS
this first course is only intended to pre-
pare the stomach for the dinner that is
to follow. it is never permissible to call
for it a second time, nor is it necessary
to consume more than third of the
amount served to you. To break bread
in your soup is an insult to your hos
tess, who would have spared you that
trouble had she not preferred a thin
soup. No nation under the sun
uses oyster crackers in soup but
Americans of the most shoddy class.
In taking the soup do not fill the spoon
more than half full, and dip up the Ii
quid by passing the spoon from you.
1 The manner in which the spoon shall
4 reach the mouth is an open question,
4 ladies' insisting that the proper thing is
/ to drink from the side of the bowl,
I while gentlemen maintain that the cor
/ rect way is from the tip of the spoon.
/ This certainly appears plausible to
many. who hold that if a blunt side was
preferable, modern spoons would not he
/ made pointed Every man witt q heavy
mustache knows from experience that it
/ is much easier and much neater for him
to take soup from the end of the spoon
| than it is from the side.
In this course bread is served. Lay
the cut on the table at the left of the
! plate and break off small pieces, with
| out lifting it from the cloth using the
| fingers of the left hand. Right here il
| might be pertinent to mention that no
| bread of any description should be eaten
| in any other fashion. Even hot bis
! cults, mullins, buns, and rolls are to be
/ torn or broken off in small pieces, and
| buttered inst before being eaten. Fish
1 should be eaten with a silver fork pro
| vided for that purpose. In managing
the fillets and roasts there is no regu-
! lation further than to carry small pieces
to your mouth with your fork, using the
/ inward curve of the utensil in doing so,
and above all things avoid making a
muss.
| In France there are so many dressings
and rich gravies on the substaptials that
monsieur finds it necessary to cut his
bread with his knife and fork, and then
uses the fork and cube of bread to eat
up the ricn sauce This practice is
| frowned down in English society, al
/ though her majesty, the queen,
is known to mop her plate
with diamond cuts of bread.
Albeit Americans do not like it, it is
the proper thing to leave the celery for
the crackers and cheese. Break the
/ o,,oIl ,N;ooao and ctri,N ~ no
fore eating In eating cheese, small
morse Is of the dairy product should be
| placed on small morsels of cracker or
/ bread and the two morsels carried to
| the mouth with the thumb and forefin-
| ger. The cheese should not be per-
| mitted to touch the finger; neither is it
permissible to eat the cheese from the
! point of the knife.
All made-dishes, such us quenelles,
rissoles, patties, etc, should be eaten
with fork only, and, as knife is I'M
necessary, it would be vulgarism to
use one With outlets, game, poultry,
and sweetbreads fried, knife is requir-
| ed Cucumbers are eaten from The
! dinner plate, and not from the side
dishes, which are fast disappearing
/ from the fashionable table. When peas
are served they should he conveyed to
the mouth on fork, and not taken
| from q spoon 1t is needless to say
/ that to put the knife into the mouth at
any time during the meal would be an
objectionable offense against good
! breeding and mark of vulgarity. In
eating asparagusa knife and fork should
| be used, as the proper way is to cut off
| the points and eat them as sea-kale,
egg plant or any other vegetable. tits
solecism to take asparagus in the fin
/ gers.
tits also indicative of the gormand to
/ overload the fork with q bit of meat,
some vegetable, and piece of pickle
! all of which should be eaten separately
/ and not arranged beforehand in a COM
| pact form. Gentlemen are sometimes
| guilty of this unpleasant manner, but
ladies are less rapacious. The hand
and mouth should be in sympathy
that is to say the mouth should be
kept open in expectation of the we'll
laden forks arrival. Open the mouth
to receive the food at the moment it has
reached the lips, and let the morsels be
small rather than large, in order that
conversation may not be ignored. To
place the fork directly opposite the
mouth is a most ungraceful way of eat
ing; nor should the wrist ever be bent
or curved to accomplish this feat. In
eating from the wing or leg of poultry
cut the meat, but never touch it with
the fingers, nor be guilty ofthe extreme
| vulgarity of picking the bones.
Pastry is always eaten with fork,
but in case of fruit tart or cream puff
a dessert-spoon is used. Small stones,
such as are found in CHEEKY, plum, dam
son, or date pudding should be received
from the mouth on the fork OF spoon
and placed in the plate and not on the
table-cloth: when the fruit stones are
large they should be separated from the
fruit with the fork and, left on the plate.
| Whenever it is possible to separate the
stones from the fruit it is best to do so.
Jellies, blanc manages, iced buildings,
etc, are eaten with a fork, and not with
| a spoon, as are all sweets sufficiently
| firm to admit of being carried in what
! the Irishman calls the split spoon.
The cloth is never removed for des-
sert, but the table is cleared of all that
appertains to the dinner. 4 dessert
plate is then placed before each guest
Will or without an iceplate. The ice
plate would be placed on the
dessert plate, the fnger-bowl on
/ the latter with d'oley beneath. The
| finger bowl should contain peppermint
water, lemon being no longer used in
LAYING the finger tips The guests will
place the finger bowl ON the left of the
plate, with the napkin under it, the
dessert-plate remaining beneath the ice
plate until the ice has been eaten, when
the servant will remove it. 1t is CON
I sidered elegant to eat the ices from the
sides and not dig into the slice or loaf.
When grapes are passed around use
I the fruit scissors rather than break off
the lunches. When eating that fruit
the half closed hand should be placed
to the lips and the stones and skin adj
roitly allowed to fall into the fingers,
and quickly placed ON one side of the
desert plate. Apples and pears should
be pared cut in halves, quarters, and
eighths, with fruit knife. Oranges
are to be divided into thirty seconds,
when they can be so reduced. Use the
| fingers in this work and tear the sec
tons, always beginning at the top.
Melons are eaten witha fork, unless
served with cream, when spoon is
/ used
/ Tba es1,as4s sIorId nevsr holm them-