Bwahaha, and so the ranks of chopstick-popcorn-eaters grows!

Butter free hands at all times :D

Prior to reading this thread, I never thought eating foods with certain utensils could be seen as respectful or disrespectful.

I learnt one form of chopstick usage when I was very young, it wasn't until I was 15 when I found out this was not the proper way, and so I changed to use it the 'proper way'.

I rarely use just a fork to eat foods with. Unless it's fruit pieces. I've eaten popcorn with a spoon. I've eaten potato chips with chopsticks, to prevent the salt and other flavours from accumulating on my fingers. I like eating noodles with chopsticks, noodle soup with chopsticks and a spoon...

Well, to answer the question about eating foods with a fork....if there are more practical utensils, or if fingers are more practical and appropriate I'll use them. For me, eating utensils are meant to make it easier to eat.

Potato chips with chopsticks....

Gosh you guys are brilliant... O.o why didn't I ever think of this stuff?

This very moment, I'm listening to the splendid table on NPR. They are talking about cutlery and its uses in history, including a mention of advice for eating all sorts of things with a fork - Like a peach.

Apparently the talking head/guest is the author of a book called Consider the Fork.

A peach with a fork? How do you...?

When I was little I used to just stab apples,peaches, pears, and other fruits with the fork and eat them whole, using the fork like a "stick".

I don't know how to use chopsticks! I've tried and tried, but I think it's similar to the way I can't properly grip a pencil.. I hold it differently because it seems more "stable" and my handwriting looks better that way. I just can't handle chop sticks.

There's not really anything I won't eat with a fork, except things that are impossible to eat with a fork, like soup.

I attempted to eat soup with a fork once....

That explains a lot about you, Poet

Actually I fell on my head as a kid at Costco (large bulk sales place) and hit the concrete head first... (I swear I was pushed)
That's probably the main cause XD I was a bit stupid as a kid...

When I'm alone in the dark of my home, I eat everything with my hands. It saves me from doing dishes later on. That, and it reminds me of being a three year old in the Philippines, sitting on the floor beside my brother and sister as we awaited our mommy to finish balling up our rice so we could eat without making a mess.

I don't think I learned to properly use utensils until I was in the second grade. But gosh darn it, I do it well! I just don't do it with passion.

Hmm... using utensils with a passion... that I would love to watch XD

"Oh dearest fork! Thou art a weapon of my love and of my hunger. I shall take thee from thy sheath and use your pointed head to impale the mighty pasta dish. As I feast, I will think fondly of thy shine."

That's how a proper Sir treats a fork. I, unfortunately, am not so kind.

Oh my... that.... was priceless... XD

Originally Posted by The Wandering Poet

I've seen too many Americans eat a taco top down... Sour Cream, then Lettuce, then meat and beans...

T_T or the guy eating a taco with a FORK!!

My father does that with food in general. It's a bit weird but I guess it has something to do with how he likes his food relatively plain and his manners aren't the greatest to begin with.

Last time I went to a restaurant with him, he was eating the Turkey Reuben in layers and it was awkward. It was a pretty tall sandwich though, so maybe that was his way of keeping the whole thing from coming apart.

Eck eating in layers... that would be such a boring food D:

Soup.

And any American food, just 'cause 'Murica.

I love to eat noddles with chopsticks but I'll still use a fork. if I have to if I'm around my dad he won't let me use chopsticks. dam him I swear he thinks all aisan food is weird.

@ Queen -

Can't help post this after what you said XD

Usually it said Amurika on it but the pic was broken

I ate with a fork and my fingers tonight! 8D
It was fish, but there were some bones.

I mostly eat with a fork. I've always had some bit of difficulty with chopsticks, although I'm getting better with them. (I refused to learn when I was little.) There's quite a bit I'll eat with my fingers, too. Like, pizza, sushi, olives, BBQ, tacos, etc. Actual finger food. For some cuisines, it's actually common to grab some sort of bread and eat the dish with it. Did that quite a bit when I visited the Bedouins. Also, with a lot of African food they do that. That's always interesting and fun. I've eaten oatmeal with a fork, only because there wasn't anything else available. Kind of difficult and took a while. -_- I guess I refuse to eat things with a fork if they're specifically finger food. It's stupid otherwise.

Asian foods I never eat with a fork. I would usually eat with chopsticks.
I don't eat soup with a fork because then all the broth would just go through the teeth.
I don't' eat pizza with a fork. I eat that with my hands.
Same with a sandwich or a hamburger.
It just doesn't look right if I eat it with a fork.

I would not eat ice cream with a fork. Usually a spoon.
And I don't eat french fries with a fork, either.

What do you do when the pizza falls apart Fox?
That's always been a big life dilemma for me o.o

Originally Posted by The Wandering Poet

Are there any foods that you don't like to eat with a fork? Why? Are there other forms of utensils you use for them? Or do you just use your hands?

For me, Asian food is something I hate eating with a fork. Since I was old enough to use chopsticks I have always done so because I felt that it was more "respectful" to the chef to eat the food the way it was meant to be.

Similarly I don't like eating American food with chopsticks because it just doesn't feel right.

Oh I know how you feel.
I automatically know when to use chopsticks or a fork/spoon. With Asian noodles, oden, and such, I use chopsticks automatically. I can't bring myself to use chopsticks with American food, though. Not even spagghetti.

As for white rice, it depends on the other parts of the meal. Generally I use a fork for rice meals since my mom usually makes it in a western meal(steak, sliced veggies, etc).

I also instinctively eat things like pizza with my bare hands, but at the same time wish they had some utensil that would make it just as easy to eat, without the greasy hands as a result.

I did overhear my aunt saying how in Hong Kong's KFCs, they give customers gloves to eat the chicken with. Apparently because Hong Kongers are very vain about their manicures. I kind of wonder if that's true, though, since over 50% of the population where I live is Filipino, yet all of the beauty salons and manicure places have all Chinese workers.