Evening star., 1909-07-17
WAYS OF EATING PROPERLY"
TABLE MANNERS ON THE CON-
TINENT OF EUROPE.
An Englishman's Views on the
Art of Dealing" With Food.
The Great Egg Test.
From lhe London Chronicle

From The London Chroniclc
A lady at Budapest has started a school
in which pupils will be instructed In tile
art OF eating. Not. YOU will understand,
the art OF acquiring food. for that is
separate matter But, given the food.
the art OF dealing with il in the few mo-
ments of its passage from food to nutri-
ment. Compare yourself with a pig and
you will find that we are no longer pigs.
We have evolved certain devices that veil
the fact that We are swallowing food.
sions are at our disposal, and We can
sneak condiments with many subterfuges.
But our Budapest lady remembers that
we all take food three times a day, often
in company. and she is telling the chill.
dren how TO do IL. She is quite right in
her endeavor. We have Travelled some
distance from the pigs and have sought
out many inventions whereby We may
cloak the passage of food from platter tn
palate. Nevertheless, those little children
of Budapest, like all other little children,
have the echo of the beast in their in
stincts, an instinct that remains In the
proverb, Fingers were made before
forks"
Fingers and Forks.
There was doubtless some kind OF eti-
auette among the cave men when they fell
10 upon the first dodo of the season
jAt that period it was possibly bad form
ITO use your thumb when you selected
'your favorite bit. But the animal instinct
prevails to the present day. Don't you
remember the childish desire. when con-
fronted with the drumstck of chicken
ut was always the drumstick for the
youngesD, to take il up and gnaw it,
How the fingers were reproved and the
little beast. with the instinct OF a dog,
had that instinct raped out of him.
l know an eminent artist who dimes
splendidly. with all the artistic surround
1ngs or cutlery, glass and clothes who
eonfesses that when he eats alone he al
ways falls back on his fingers and teeth.
He gnaws bones. Do you? I do. 1t is
just reminiscence of the habits of some
remote ancestor. and thus | prefer to
dine in company, in order to forget that
l was ever such a beast.
SO the laws have been made. And n
you will kindly sit down to dinner with
me at the Savoy or Carlton. or even In
my own modest home. you should note
the elaborate precautions that have been
taken for decent transport OF your food
and drink. Imagine a man remembering
that fingers were made before forks
faced for the first time with an array
Of implements beyond the dreams OF
golfng: Fish knives. fruit knives small
knives. big knives, soup spoons. dessert
spoons, teaspoons, forks to balance the
knives-and yet some forks that are mys-
terious until they announce themselves
as prodders of bread. To say nothing OF
the glasses. What is to be done with
this armament of gastronomy? To be
convenient 1t must be automatic.
Wanted, an Entente.
The man who sits at meat with another
must observe the common convention and
as he talks his hand must seek the proper
instrument, and here remember a most
disquieting announcement of Lady Grove.
who is an authority on the concealment
of eating. There are things you may eat
with fork and things you may eat
with a spoon. but nothing you may eat
with both. / should like to play a match
with Lady Grove over a gooseberry tart
and Devonshire cream.
The laws have been made In various
countries and ages. but there has been
no Hague conference and international
decision as to the proper way of drama
tizing the play of knife and fork and
spoon. Eating at it's best is a somewhat
messy performance and the desire of ma
tions to meet over the table is always
countered by the difference in the concep-
tions of the art OF eating-the art that
should conceal art. We do not eat alike.
There are one or two crucial instances.
And you will observe that the real prob
lem is that Of concealing the fact that
you are eating.
Let us take the knife as the necessary
implement of the table. We have reached
no entente cordiale as TO the use of the
knife and our insularity notices. Let MS
hope that the Budapest teacher will in
time spread through the Teutonic race
the adherence OF the custom of shoveling
In food with the knife blade and cram
ming 1t down with the handle. The knife
is curiOusly prominent when you dine
with a citizen OF the European continent.
You see nothing else as he waves IL I'm
the air to give emphasis to his pleasing
conversation. If you see man waving
his knife in the air he has come from the
European continent to London.
The American citizen is even more
recognizable, for when he sits down TO
the joint he cuts up his portion with
knife and fork. lays down his knife,
point upward, and takes his meats will
a fork In his right hand. Now the En-
glishman has evolved an art OF eating
which prevents him eleyating the point
of his knife above the level of ,he
horizon. And the instant the point cf
the knife takes the wrong elevation
the Englishman. disgustedly. thinks:
You are eating! and showing me You
are eating! A most disgusting habit
The art of eating is to conceal art.
and I would set an egg and an orange
before the little Budapest students and
ask them to deal with the two In 'front.'
of critical eyes. You remember the IA
nous maiden sisters who parted ~
their bedrooms to eat the after dinner
orange in decency. But the egg is the
final test-the boiled egg. boiled egg
with all the appurtenances around it
knives. forks. spoons of every dimen-
sion, glass, earthenware at demand.
The Crucial Point.
How are you going to eat boiled egg
with the proper concealment? In al
English farmhouse 1 was presented
with the best boiled eggs ! ever had
and a small knife wherewith to eat
them. The farmer did 1t skillfully, but
he diminished my appetite. The Ameri-
can is absolutely indecent about his
egg: and as he smashes it. pours IT.
treats it and consumes it there Is no
doubt that ii is an egg, and that he
has stolen the Englishman's appettt5
as that Englishman sits opposite him Il
breakfast. For you cannot sit over
against a man who eats not In your
own way and keep your love for MIN
intact If your friend eats an egg In
the wrong way you don't go to war
with him, but you wish he would con-
form TO London rules. London is the
home of table manners.