Germans EAT DIFFERENTLY than Americans?! | Feli from Germany
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▸Did you know that I can spot American tourists at restaurants in Europe just by the way they eat? And likewise, I sometimes stand out when I go to a restaurant here in the US. But why is that? 🧐
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ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I'm 29, and I'm a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master's degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other topics I come across in my everyday life in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE :)
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I was in Germany in 1999, and I was struck by the smaller portions of meals. One day I ordered ice cream on a cone, and it was half the size of an American serving. This was actually a good thing in my opinion, because American meals and snacks are way oversized. One day we went to an outdoor fish festival and all of the food and beverages were served on washable plates and cups. No one was walking around slurping an oversized drink. There was no trash lying around. It was actually really great.
Americans have always been big eaters since our earliest founding. Read "Made in America" by Bill Bryson.
Avoiding to use disposeable dish has started in the late 1980ies, early 1990ies AFAIR. So around 1999 it has become usual enough that it was quite frequent and that some towns even dared to demand it to be imposed on consumers of an entire event, eg. a Christmas market or a music festival.
Only a few years ago it has been cast into a law to avoid disposeable dish. An important reason which triggered that decision was given by the growing problem of water pollution by plastic items. Also there's not that much space for garbage dumps in Europe which is a significant reason behind the increasingly differentiating rules of separating different kinds of garbage.
I think American servings are the right size and European servings are too small. Unfortunately, American servings are getting smaller due to shrinkflation (keeping prices the same but giving you less for your money). They don't use washable dishes at outdoor events because they get broken.
@@sexygeek8996 do americans not learn how to use a plate or glass without breaking it? do you only have plastic dishes at home that you drop a few times during eating?
You'd be surprised, but most of my American friends actually use only plastic or stainless steel dishes at their home and consider ceramic or porcelain dishes quite fancy and only for special occasions, while it's completely normal for us in Germany to use them day to day.
They've also all told me the reason is because it's more convenient to them and stuff doesn't get broken when dropped or handled roughly.
I can't get behind that mind set at all, but it is what it is 🤷 @@robopecha
Interesting topic. I, German, remember an American friend being very impressed with how I ate a kiwi a couple of years ago. I cut in half and scooped each half with a spoon. He had never seen it being eaten like that before. For me it was just the most efficient way and I think pretty common in Germany. 😂
The most efficient way of eating a kiwi is just taking a bite of it with the skin still on. I saw many New Zealanders do that there.
@@Skyfighter94 That's what a psychopath would do
@@Belgarion2601 eating the skin isn’t going to harm you. It’s packed with extra fiber. I think it all comes down to preference whether or not one chooses to eat the skin or not
@@Belgarion2601 Are you OK girl?
I eat an avocado like that
I came to Germany 2nd time to live as a civilian. I was 50 years old...could not speak german, realizing I had been protected while in the military and really had no idea about this culture. I immersed myself into German culture in every way... I worked, did business with banks, government offices and everything needed. It was extremely difficult. But I did it!
Gut gemacht! Well done.
You are the first service member I am aware who actually went back. They all say how much they enjoyed Germany, and just have to go back- they haven’t yet. My friend served there and boarded with a local family. You weren’t insulated while in the service, you insulated yourself.
The thing I learned while living in Germany is you don't die from embarrassment. If your really trying the Germans are very accepting and accommodating.
I found that keeping my fork in my left hand is an easier way to eat.
Hi Feli, I'm Dave from Cincinnati! My ex-wife is Czech and this very subject was something pointed out to me early on in our marriage. She explained this topic as well as another tidbit that I still use to this day. She explained that when you are in a restaurant, how you place your knife and fork when you put them down for some reason, tells the Waitor/Waitress whether you are still eating or not. If your fork and knife are on the plate on either side says you're still eating, and if they are laying together on an angle that you are done. I think this is something that should be adopted worldwide. That way the server doesn't have to interrupt a conversation to ask if you are done yet.
And your not still married..
This is done in the US too, it's just pretty rare for people to be taught it, so even if waitstaff knew the rules, it wouldn't be good to assume it. Another similar rule deals with where you leave your napkin. I needed to use the restroom at a restaurant one time, when i was a kid. I put my napkin on the table instead of a chair when I was a kid and the waitress took my pizza away while I was gone! I was mad and hungry when I got back and there was no more pizza! I was a kid and it was at a pizza place!
We learn this at home. Mamma will keep putting food on your plate untill you place your cutlery the correct way. And you have to clean your plate before you can leave the table.
We were taught that in England as well. Also bread on the left. Drink on the right. Here in Spain we hang onto our cutlery between primero y secundo but otherwise the same.
I hate going to restaurants or weddings where the meal is served as separate meals
For instance appetizers
Soup and salad
Main dish
Dessert
Every single time they served the next portion they took your food away even if you were still eating
I'm American, the daughter of a career soldier. I am the oldest of my siblings and when I was about a year old, Daddy was posted to Germany for a year. While there, he learned to eat Continental style which he found much more efficient and elegant.
Fast forward to me, and eventually my younger siblings, learning to use silverware. We were taught Continental. And when I was eight, Daddy was posted to Germany again but this time we went along. I was frequently asked if I were German or French when people saw me eating. A British gentleman was surprised when he was temporarily transferred to the US in the company I worked for.
Oddly enough, Daddy also taught us to use chopsticks. We practiced using marbles!
Wish I was tought to use chopsticks as a kid. I think every skill learned in childhood feels very natural and could always come in hand later in life. Wish I had this cultural exchange too; my knowledge about the US was through movies and my american grand aunt until my early 20s
@@NeurosenkavalierEmilSinclair I have always considered myself very fortunate to have had this opportunity. I wish more people were exposed to other cultures as children. I think it would go far to alleviating many of the world's problems.
"We practiced using marbles!'
Hardcore!
@@CFWhitmanSo is picking up a single grain of uncooked rice or a sesame seed.
I like using chopsticks for Chinese food and Sushi. It gets funny if you're with a group at a Chinese restaurant and ask for chopsticks(if they arent already there) and suddenly everyone wants them whether they can use them or not.
I feel like for most Americans, with breakfast food, we just cut with our fork as we go since it’s soft enough. No need for a knife or the left hand at all. Except maybe to hold your plate in place.
I grew up with the “cut and switch” method but was quite a messy eater. When I moved to Central Europe my colleagues heckled me for “eating like a child” so I switched. It turns out I was not a messy eater, the cut and switch method was the culprit.
I doubt it was your method. I eat that way, and I'm not messy. Your colleagues sound pretty judgmental. I wouldn't change because someone disapproved. I would sharply tell them to keep their criticism to themselves or leave. I have no use for that kind of snobbery.
@@sadee1287 USian eating methods are childlike
why switch I'm right handed.@@sadee1287
@@sadee1287 Wow how sensitive and ignorant you are. You may want to cry and write down your letter as well.
How would changing your fork to the more dominant hand, which has more control, cause messiness?
In Belgium, we eat french fries with hands. Regarding mussels, it's a little bit more complicated. You choose first a big one, it eat it with the fork and use the shell as pliers for eating the other ones. Bon appétit !
Bah! Now I crave a portion of moules-et-frites. Curse you! ;)
I would be very surprised to find french fries in Belgium. Ce sont des frites. Voor mij ook frietjes. Oder eben Fritten.
They are different from what you get in other countries: Fried two(!) times, at different temperatures and with a pause in between. Also usually (nearly mandatory) fried in beef fat instead of vegetable fat. The difference in taste is significant.
Although I'm German, I'm actually very fortunate to live extremely close to the belgian border and I have been spoiled with "frites" since I was a kid. 😀
And I have to concur with Ned-Ryerson. J'ai envie des moules-frites maintenant.
that "frites" are a dream, so much better than the "regular" ones @@1zaj34
Two Feli videos this week?? What a time to be alive! :-)
Feli,
I am sure your Ben is a super nice guy and is very supportive to participate in this video. His table manners were excellent. But I do want to pick on 1 thing. A gentleman never wears his hat inside and never ever wears a hat at the table.
Great video, and keep up the good work.
Except at the lunch counter in the diner. 🎩
The American male hat culture has completely changed, for younger men, including Ben.
Am pretty sure that if its okay to wear a cap at the table, you can just pick up the steak with your fingers and not dirty the silverware -- just kidding...
American here and can absolutely confirm that I can not use a fork with my left hand 😅 my Grandma from Frankfurt always looked down her nose at us american kids eating her red cabbage and white veal bratwurst the wrong way and now I'm just now picking that up! Thank you Feli!
I am born and raised mostly in NYC, and I have never learned the cut and switch. We set the table with the forks on the left and the spoon and knife on the right, and that's how I've always held them. As far as twirling spaghetti, I have used both the side of the plate and fork in spoon method. Sometimes I can't manage the side of the plate, and I need to help the spaghetti onto the fork.
In Australia we use the European method. I haven't seen a lot of Americans, but the first time I was aware Americans did it differently was when my niece got engaged to an American. Although he was quite a confident person, he was kind of self-conscious about how he ate, probably from having the difference pointed out to him.
came here to say the same, I think the majority of Australia eats the European way. Unless it is a super casual meal or eating pasta or something we don't eat with the fork on the right.
USians eat like children
I love your channel! I love your voice. I love learning things about Germany. Keep ‘em coming!😊
Absolutely awesome!! Very interesting and comical at the same time. I just LOVE your videos 😊😊😊
A wonderful and informative video. Thank you.
That explains a lot. I was stationed in Germany, and unless they heard me talking with my Southern Accent, they assumed I was European. I am lefthanded, so I never switch as I use my fork in my left hand all the time and my knife in my right. To further blend in, I spent several marks on clothes to wear off post from a local store.
I'm a left-handed American too and never switch hands either! I totally don't pay attention to how others use their utensils so I didn't even know the switching hands was a thing, let alone an American thing, until like a couple years ago 🤣
Team Lefty!
My son and his wife just came back from three years in Sweden. The two youngest kids learned to eat from thier peers in school. They now eat eurostyle.
I enjoy learning about different cultures. Your videos are helpful.
I don’t know if someone already pointed it out… I noticed that Ben hold the bigger part of the steak with the fork, while cutting of a small piece. For me (and pretty anyone I know in Germany) it’s the other way around. We put the fork in the small part of the steak, we’re about to cu (so it’s already on the fork afterwards) 😉as you do too, Feli 😅
I'm Canadian and my parents grew up in a Mennonite community (made up of ethnic Germans who came from Russia after the Revolution), so I learned both methods of using the knife and fork. I mainly use the European method because it simply makes sense, although I do remember some attempts by childhood "friends" to shame me into using the American method because that was "good manners", BTW that's a great imitation of a heavy-accented German speaking English at the beginning of the clip (just like in Hollywood movies).
Lutchen
she'll never answer
Huh, weird. I grew up in western Canada, and I never noticed people switching hands while they eat. But maybe I’m just not very observant because I never noticed people doing that when I visited the USA either
@@Mason265 I’m in Western Canada too, and I am right handed, and I keep my fork in my right hand and cut with me left hand. No switching that way. Why would I prefer the knife in my dominant hand? It’s not like especially deft movements are required. If anything, pressing down with the fork with my stronger hand (to stop the food from shifting around while being cut) is appealing. I always eat with the fork or spoon in my right hand, and a knife (if applicable) in my left hand. But honestly, I don’t use knives a great deal with my food, as the dishes I eat don’t typically lend themselves to that these days (whole food plant based), so that might be why.
same , My Grandparents came to Canada in 1952, I was raised more German than Canadian I think, right down to my grandparents talking to me in German when they didn't want the other Grandkids to know something, I can still understand pretty good , wish I had kept up with speaking it though, I BUTCHER the lanuage when I talk it , my syntax is all wrong , Feli , my family is from the south near Switzerland , city called Singen , only a half hour from Zurich
I am binge watching Feli as I just discovered her about 2 weeks ago. I’m not one to comment on videos but this stood out. I eat like Feli but I’m a born American. However - I was born to Polish immigrants, therefore taught how to eat by them. And it never changed because I am left handed. I always wondered why people would ask if I was European while I was eating! It’s happened 3 times in my adult life! Danke, Feli!
well european left-handed people have their knife in the left and fork in the right hand obviously.
@@robopecha I suspect that assumption doesn't hold as completely true as you would think.
That way is also taught as proper etiquette in the US. My grandma taught home education for decades and that was just considered the proper way. What she calls American style is pretty uncommon for anyone over 10yrs old.
@@CFWhitman obviously i did no study on it, but all left-handed people i know, which are a lot, cut things with their left hand. because why wouldnt they.
@@robopecha Well, I eat with my left hand, write with my left hand, and brush my teeth with my left hand. However, when I eat something that has to be cut, I don't switch my fork to my right hand to cut it. I just use my right hand to cut it.
Now, there are other things that I do with my right hand, like throw. It's not that people who are very left-handed wouldn't switch and use their left hand to cut. It's just that not everyone who is "left-handed" is so completely left-handed as right-handed people tend to be right-handed.
I'm German and I use the switch method for cutting. Since I'm right handed, it feels more comfortable to use my right hand to put the food into my mouth. Even though it looks impractical, the switching process is actually so automated that I don't even realise it. However when it comes to scooping up, I hold the fork in my left hand and don't switch. Maybe because I don't want the food to fall down while switching.
I also like to cut my Spaghetti very tiny (unless I'm in a restaurant). This way I can eat them with just a spoon and it's also easier to get a good noodle-sauce-ratio. Rolled Spaghetti just never seem to have enough sauce on them.
I just responded to someone who said they were messy because of switching and I asked how switching hands and bringing food to your mouth with your dominant hand could possibly be messy! It never occurred to me that you would load your fork before switching. You have to switch and empty utensil!
@@jenniferpearce1052 Well when it comes to food that you have to cut, it's already on the fork after cutting, so I obviously switch with that food on the fork. However I don't think anyone switches with scooped up food on it. Guess I just tried to imagine how it would be done, if you always wanted to hold the knife and the fork in your dominant hand 😅
Thanks for the history lesson on this :)
I grew up in Canada raised by British parents, and I eat like you Feli, while my friends don’t. I volunteer at summer camps, and kids, including teens, hardly use knives at all, but gobble at a whole pancake for e.g. held on the fork. I call it lollipop-eating, and kids look bewildered when I ask them to cut it in pieces.
Generally, you can cut pancakes with the side of your fork if necessary. My parents didn't teach us to use either knife-and-fork method (so the two not-right-handed of us ended up doing it "the Continental way"), but they wouldn't have stood for us lifting a pancake all at once to eat it.
I only use the knive for the butter, then use the fork to cut the pan cake.but I'm right handed that Why I use the right hand.
Love it! I remember as a teen my father pointing out that I used the Euro style while eating. To this day, 50 years later, I still have no idea how or why this happened-but I’m glad it did. Less can truly be more. Cheers!
Cool! Me too. But my theory is my left-handednes and early childhood cello lessons. I had no idea I was eating the "European" way until I actually went to Germany at age 17.
Are you by chance left-handed?
Left handed and eat "European style"
@@michaelanders6161 After reading through a few of these comments I'd think that may be the reason. I'm left-handed and don't eat "the American way". I've only switched my hands if I'm done with say eating and cutting my meat and am only eating my vegetables and such.
@@MrDragonJackson Yes, I eat the "European" way, but I use the knife in my right hand even though I always use the fork in my left, even when not cutting. However, I tend to serve food onto my plate with my right hand (I think because I tend to have my own utensil held to the plate under my left thumb when serving). Because of that, I often cut full portions of food from the center dish with my left hand while having the serving fork in my right. I'm not exactly one hundred percent left-handed, though (but it is the hand I write with).
@@michaelanders6161 Aha, my father was left handed and both me and my brother wore are watches on are right hands--both of us are right handed. So maybe it was from something I saw subliminally. In any case its so clumsy to eat the American way IMO. Cheers!
Hi Feli, I love your channel! Although I was born and raised in America, I adopted the European style of using a knife and fork and have done so my whole life. My parents were also born in America and they ate American style!
(My very first trip to Germany was to Munich in 1999 for Oktoberfest.)
9 years in Europe ('68 through '82) with the US Air Force (6 in Italy and 3 in Germany). I adopted the Euro style of knife and fork early -- it just made more sense - and haven't looked back.
Hi Feli, I’m a Colombian living in Germany and I’ve been following your channel since forever and I love it. I’m thrilled that you’re learning Spanish and even in contact with a Colombian teacher. Every time I see your videos I notice how similar the culture in America (US) and Latin America is, specially compared to Europe. Hopefully when you become a pro in Spanish, as I’m sure you will, you’ll incorporate a little more about Latin American culture in your videos when it suits of course and maybe you’ll find out that some things are not only from the US but like the entire continent 😂. Can’t wait to see the next video. Viele Grüße aus Düsseldorf.
Well, at least in Brazil we are more like Europe. It’s mixed actually, but I believe we follow more European customs than US ones.
How about pushing into the fork with a small piece of bread? I’m from Chile and that’s how my parents ate (also me).They were totally disgusted when some Americans saw them push with their fingers.
Hi , you’d be surprised how much history and connection there is between Germany and Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries like Argentina!
you seem quite intelligent so I’m sure you know all about the Hapsburg families and the early Germanic tribes that were in Spain before the Moors.
I find that in some things South Americans have more in common with European than US Americans. And that also goes when it comes to food. One thing that shocked me when I first came to the US as a 12 year old was how uncouth the kids were at lunch time. Burping loudly, eating stuff with their hands, talking while chewing their food, and wasting food. Things that would be unthinkable in my culture.
Why don't you make your own videos? It's a subject that doesn't seem to be covered that much.
Need a video on cultural fork food, spoon food, and hand-held food differences, as a follow-up to this video.
for years living in Germany I picked up on eating with a utensil in each hand without switching. It just made sense and I really didn't think much about it until I was back in the US and many people said something about it at dinner for example and I thought it was strange that everyone didn't do it that way. One of those things that change you forever I guess.
Thanks Feli! I’ve been watching your videos for months now as I prepare for my first trip to Germany ! I have found them super helpful in learning about cultural differences, some history, etc. and found them so enjoyable & have shared some with my husband to help prepare him as well! We may overlap our trip with yours a little?? Not sure of exact dates, but it would be fun to run into you. We start in Munich at Oktoberfest then on to Fussen, Zugspitze, Salzburg, Vienna, Prague, then end in Berlin, all by train. I can’t wait! I’ve been doing Duolingo for 240days straight just to learn a little German & be somewhat familiar with it. Any last minute advice?
Sorry, I'm just now seeing this. Hope you had an amazing time! :)
I lived with my German grand mother and every summer went to camp. At camp they told me to eat by switching hands and putting my left hand in my lap, that was the right way to eat. . When I got home I would get told the right way to eat was to keep both hands above the table, because people would wander what I was doing with my hand under the table. Today I eat with both hands in sight.
Grandma was right!
I'm 56, lived in the US all my life, and I've never eaten by switching hands with the fork and the knife. I've never had anybody tell me to do it differently.
I also leave my hand on the table when I eat, but it's considered rude to lean on your elbows when eating.
Yeah I never understood the elbow thing being rude to many prudes out there who go out of their way to make people lives miserable must be the same people who run HOA.
Hi Feli! Bill in Baltimore! I lived in Munich as a military dependent...back when it was still West Germany! (87-88) I loved the German cuisine but also the Turkish and Greek restaurants as well. My step father worked in the country club management business, so I learned various forms of etiquette early on. If I was out at a fancy restaurant or with people i wanted to impress, I made sure to adopt Continental habits, and it has always served me in good stead.
Over1800 comments on fork around left or right. Feli... Congradulations you picked a great subject to pump up the clicks. Ich gönne es dir! 👍😉
I’ve always held the knife in my left hand and my fork in my right. It just makes sense, and is well more efficient. But I didn’t realize it wasn’t the norm till I asked at a banquet for someone to pass the salad dressing and they said sure, anything for the lefty. I never got around to correcting them lol.
In the Ras museum in Novi Pazar (south-west part of Serbia) there is a majolica plate, a two-pronged fork and a knife, medieval archaeological finds from the area of Stari Ras from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Interessting topic! I am German but over the years adopted the Thai way of eating. Which means most of the time I am using fork (left hand) and spoon, unless something hard needs to be cut. And the back of the fork is used to "push" the food onto the spoon.
Gave you a sub! As an American with a German background, your channel is very interesting and has me wanting to reconnect with my German side. Most of the Amburgey's settled in Kentucky!
I learned the European way of eating because as a child I didn’t want to waste time before the fork full of deliciousness got to my mouth. My mom told me I ate like a European and I had to ask her to explain.
Eating a burger, piled high with everything you could think of, with a knife and fork was an eye-opening experience.
I was born in the US but I eat exactly like you. I too keep the fork in the left hand. My Paternal Grandparents came from Italy and I am second generation American. I learned table manners from my visit the the grand parents place every weekend when I was growing up. We always had a big Saturday meal with the family. Also I find it just easier to keep the fork in one hand. I've always been picky about being efficient with movements and speaking, I don't usually talk small talk. my speech is mostly about very important topics. I also learned to wind my pasta onto the fork using a spoon, but I don't do that very often any longer! sometimes it can get messy, especially if there is a lot of sauce on the pasta, the sauce can get sprayed off the pasta using the spoon method.
When I lived in Germany and Austria I tried to pick up this way of eating. I found it challenging at first and used my knife in my right hand to help guide my fork in my left hand. This helped in the transition to this new way of eating.
Feli, It's been 60 years since I was in Deutschland :) but we ( U.S. Soldiers ) picked up on their way of eating very fast. Otherwise we would be outed the minute we went to a gasthaus. I still eat that way to this day. I too eat plant based food (meat plant :) ). You are bringing back some awesome memories. Keep it up!
I evolved into the European way though I didn't even know it was European. As you said, it just comes down to efficiency.
I’m 53 and grew up in New England. My paternal grandmother was the arbiter of manners in the family and taught me how to eat at the table. I recall her instruction on switching from left to right with the fork and how that differed from Continental practice. When I asked why, she replied that switching prevented you from sitting at the table with a utensil in each first as though you were anxious to begin eating. She told me that we put our left hand in our lap after switching to prevent us from leaning on the table with our forearms-so that we would have good posture while seated.
Well, grandmothers always have their own way to explain things to their grandchildren! It feels more like: "I wish you'd do it this way." than an order from your parents ... 😇
Your grandmother was correct!
Smaller portions? Like your litre beer mug ,half pound pretzels, two pound breakfast plate ? Oh,as well ,when I was being taught table. manners ,the elbows were not allowed on the table. Your insights into Deutchland are much appreciated as I am slowly learning to speak my Grandfather’s language. Cheers from Sunny Alberta!
How about a video on the etiquette on using/having bread during a sit-down meal? Can/should you use bread to assist loading a fork? Can/should you use bread to sop up delicious gravy and sauces? Must bread be eaten separately? Is it different for breakfast meals? Dinner? Types of meals? Salads? Soups? Cuisines? Etc. I'm curious as to how people view someone's use of bread during a meal. Thanks.
I spent a summer living with a family in Salzburg, Austria when I was in high school and besides a crash course in German we had a dinner before we left where they showed us how to "eat like a German", I still eat that way today as I find it more efficient.
American here who lived for some time in Germany and for years in South Asia. Indians are very adept at eating with their fingers...even thin soups! Always with the right hand. It's a very refined way of eating.
By the way, Indians sometimes asked me, hopefully, if I was German! Germany pioneered scholarship of Indian languages and traditions in the West and Germans are respected there!
I'm vegetarian, too, and enjoyed potato and cabbage dishes when I lived in Germany...as well as the excellent breads and pastries!
HI Feli, just found your channel and I love it. You have such great energy on camera. I’m an American but my family is from the Alsace-Loraine area of Germany. I have wanted to learn German but am afraid of sounding silly- guess I need to get over it 😊. As for eating I eat as you do with one difference. Being right handed, I keep my fork in my right hand and cut with my left. Once in a restaurant I saw some cut all their pancakes up in bits then eat using a fork- held upside down! The tines were coming out of their fist on the pinky side. This was an adult. It blows my mind.😬
Hi Feli, as a German who has spent a lot of time in the UK I found some more typical differences. That's not true for each person, but in my experience for the majority: 1. check where Ben holds the fork in your video. It's much closer to the lower part, to the fork. In continental Europe people tend to hold it further up. 2. Check how Ben eats. He moves the mouth/body to the plate/fork while you move the fork to the mouth. Again, not true for everybody, but that's exactly what I found to be more common in the UK compared to the Continent. 3. speed of eating. May not be not that big difference nowadays, but 20 years ago many people I met or saw in the UK rushed through their lunch and finished within 5 minutes. That may be related to the fact that dinner was their main meal whereas ours was and still is lunch most of the time.
Lol so true. In my 20’s my roommate taught me how to eat the European way, as she did a post masters in European. I’ve always eaten that way since. A few years ago I was having dinner with my nephew, who had been living in Austria. I was surprised when he mentioned that I eat like a European, because it never entered my mind that I was doing that.
I've been back and forth between Stockholm and Lafayette LA for about 50 years now. No damned difference in my opinion. (although I'll have some cracklins now and then)
Must be something Swedish, we love porkskins. 😍
From a Cajun, I grew up on Cracklin's
Very good and valuable points. But even if you see people in Europe eating pizza with cutlery, the normal Italian way from Campania is definitely eating it with your hands.
Where I live in Spain pastries are served with a knife and fork. In England it is just a fork. Mum had pastry forks that are small (like English pastries) with a wide tang on the left for cutting.
"i can tell by the way theyre eating."
ME: face first in a bowl of endless pasta.. huh?!
😂
Proper British etiquette does involve holding the fork face down for everything. To be honest, it's pretty easy to balance mashed potato, because it sort of sticks to the fork. Peas and sweetcorn are trickier, but you can use a bit of potato to keep them rolling off 😂 Or just turn the fork over, which I think is what I usually do. Though if I'm eating alone I prefer to eat most meals out of a bowl with a spoon
Ahhh... So that's why the English invented mushy pea's.
So it wouldn't roll off your fork when it's turned upside down.
😅 🇺🇸
I use honey to keep my peas from rolling off my knife.🤓
As a Pole, I was always amazed by the idea of eating with the fork facing down. That's hmmmm... not really logical?:)
I'm Australian of mixed German (Mum)and English (Dad) descent. I remember being taught as a child to use the back of my fork for mashed potato, peas, etc.,, but it always seemed illogical to me. And I've never noticed other people here doing that.
@@peterwilding1203 so your mother was a chrysanthemum?
American left-hander here. I could never be bothered to switch. I hybridized the Continental and American styles - knife in right, fork in left. But always facing up like for scooping. So many things were already more complicated as a left handed child 40 years ago that I chose not to make eating complicated.
I'm going to be honest, I eat like you. It's how I was taught. I've never paid attention to other people enough to notice the other way. I'm 44 and right-handed, and I use my right hand to eat if I'm not using a knife, but when a knife is involved, I keep the fork in my left and the knife in my right.
The cultural differences between the Spaniards and South Americans you discussed with your coach would be an interesting video. I have a friend from South America who recently spent a week in Spain and was curious whether the locals spotted the differences right away.
Spaniards proclivity to suffer from complexes is without a match on this planet. There's your cultural difference, I mean, being a third world country in Europe must mark them from birth for sure.
Big variations in the UK even in small groups. My mother who is in her nineties doesn't turn her fork over to scoop. She collects various food items on the tines (points) of the fork before bringing it to her mouth. In fact now she is elderly she finds this difficult, but instead of turning her fork over (which she would never do) she uses a spoon. My father on the other hand who was also in his nineties when he died last year, would not think twice before turning his fork to scoop, and that is the method I adopted.
In my family we were not slow to pick up certain types of food in our hands to to eat it, mostly meat: chops, ribs and chicken legs. My wife on the other hand is very slow to pick things up and eat and instead uses her knife and fork even where there are bones. In her presence I have largely adopted her method in this though it still feels a bit clumsy to me.
When my wife and I once stayed at a B&B in Pennsylvania, at breakfast we were at a large table with an American couple. The host came along and said to the Americans "Watch how these guys eat their boiled eggs." We tapped the top with a small spoon, peeled off a small area of shell and scooped the contents out with the spoon. I don't think there were "soldiers" (finger shaped pieces of bread) which could be poked in to soak up the soft yolk, but that really would have been quintessentially British.
It's interesting to know that there were actually historical reasons for these differences. I enjoy your videos. Personally, I put the knife in my right hand when I'm cutting for more control over the sharp object and then switch back to my fork in the right hand. My left hand doesn't have very much dexterity because of physical limitations.
My daughter recently asked me why I eat like that? fork in left hand and knife in right hand always. (like Feli) I had no answer! Now this clarifies this issue.
I grew up in Brazil in a German / Italian community. Everyone rode their bycicles everywhere! my family are Italians and one Portuguese grandfather.
I've been in the US since 1965 when I was drafted into the U.S. Army. (Vietnam). Thanks Feli for the videos!
Figured out eating this way when I was just a kid. It just seemed a lot easier than switching hands like my family did. Didn't know that it was European style until I was an older adult. Thought I had invented it. lol.
This is so weird as an American, I did the American style when I was a kid because it "felt" easier to do things with my dominant hand. No one actually taught me a style lol. Then when I got older I switched styles because I was getting frustrated having to constantly switch the fork between hands. I didn't find out about American vs European style until I was older, and from the movie The Matrix no less 🤣🤣🤣
Hi Feli - love your videos! One small mistake to point out here though at 7:21 in the video is that you said right hand, when you should have said left. Thought I should point it out in case it confused people!
Hi Feli,
Yep, same for South Africa and UK, where I now live!
My father was Lithuanian. When my sister and I were young my father was very adamant about eating etiquette using tableware and how to cut our food before eating it. At home it was acceptable to eat using tableware the European style, but out in public we had to use the American style, always keeping the left hand with your wrist resting on the edge of the table if not using it. You NEVER put your elbows on the table... EVER!!! When cutting up our food, you only cut one piece before eating it and NEVER cut it all up before eating it which was a huge mistake and would result in a severe scolding! The reason was that your food was prepared to be served in a pleasing presentation and cooked to be served as the cook/chef wanted it to be eaten so cutting it all up at once destroyed the presentation and made it cool more quickly instead of staying warmer as when it's in one piece. Plus we had to hold the fork and spoon in a specific way. If we held our fork and spoon the way Ben holds his... we'd be scolded for it!!! You held your fork and spoon with the base of the handle resting one the web between your thumb and index finger while you held the lower part of the handle between the tips of your thumb, index finger, and middle finger just like a pencil. However, most people don't hold a pencil properly so if you tell them to hold a fork or spoon like a pencil... they hold it wrong. At least wrong according to how I learned.
PS... you got your hand smacked for holding a fork or spoon in a "ham fist" style.
I posted my comment b4 you finished. You reminded me, that when I was Dusseldorf, in an Italian restaurant, I order a small personal pizza. I wanted garlic(which I had to describe to the Germans because they did not know that word), Spinach and Red Pepper. Unlike such a pizza ordered in the U.S., the 3 ingredients were separate on the pizza - 1/3 garlic, 1/3 spinach, 1/3 red pepper - So I got an Italian flag Pizza!
Having your food (pizza) put together or configured is also very US. Europeans order according to the menu. Supplements are sometimes exchanged, but otherwise not.
Thanks for a long video discussing how americans eat differently, I enjoy your beauty and enthusiam
I can do either way and i will aslo mix it up by doing fork/right-knife/left so no switching depending on what im cutting/and eating...tough steak which you sometimes get knife in right cutting easier items like french toast pancakes knife in left and hinestly i sometimes feel like if i use my left hand (right dominant) that im gonna spill what im picking up hense the switch to right hand
I was born and raised an American in the early 70’s, but I always ate like you (left handed fork). Our whole family did. Perhaps it was because grandparents were from Germany. It was normal to me until people begin pointing it out to me while out to dinner asking if I am European. lol
The thing I notice most about Ben is his Los Angeles Dodgers ball cap in Cincinnati. I notice this much more than how he eats his food.
The hat made me feel a little nervous. I'm sure a lot of it is because of how I was raised, but wearing a hat at the dinner table would be considered very very rude. Also that he rests his elbow on the table. The way he bends over while eating. My dad would be furious. How is that in the US?
??
I saw a Dodgers cap in Oakland Athletics colors and was very confused.
@@nixbuongiorno It is common here in Dallas, Texas to wear a team hat to support your team
I'm American and I was taught to use the fork with my left hand and my knife in my right. This is easy for me as I am left handed.
When I was young I would get yelled out if I put both hands on the table. It was considered rude and made it look like you weren't paying attention to everyone else.
I lived in France and Germany for three years, as a teen. The European handling of knife and fork made sense. I am now seventy years old. I still hold my silver ware the same way.
My paternal great grandparents were from Germany. So when I was babysat by my grandmother, she loved her extremely strong coffee and ate her french fries with mayo. She always told me it was how Germans drink their coffee and their french fries. Lol.
extremely strong coffee XD when I went to the US, I was very confused with the - basically coloured water..? I got to all meals, not only breakfast or cake in the afternoon.
I could not drink it, it just did not taste like coffee, more like a tea version of coffee.
At age 73, born and raised in the US, never have I switched hands with my hands. Don’t recall my parents doing it either.
Yeah, I do both and sometimes switch the knife and fork around while both in use too😅
As an American, I use the fork and knife exactly as you do. But then, I'm left handed.
Me too. As an American, I was also taught it this way having British parents. But being left-handed, I have to admit it could not be more a more efficient way to do it. (So, having said that, If I'm ever holding my knife in my left hand, you should be worried. Lol.)
Hallo Feli ich komme aus Deutschland und bin kürzlich auf deinen Kanal gestoßen.
Ich habe direkt abonniert weil ich den Inhalt wirklich gut finde auch wenn mein Englisch doch zu wünschen übrig lässt.
Ich habe in den letzten Tagen so einige deiner Videos geschaut auch das mit den genialen deutschen Wörtern die du im Englischen vermisst.
Beim Weichei wusstet du jedoch nicht so recht worauf dieses Wort zurückgeht.
Nun meine Großeltern hatten ein paar Hühner die auch Eier legten.
Ab und an war eins dabei das keine feste Schale hatte, das also nur von der Eihaut umgeben war.
Das diese Eier äußerst vorsichtig zu behandeln sind ist klar.
Also wenn du nicht belastbar bist dann bist du ein Weichei.
Klasse| Danke für die gute Erklärung. Wieder etwas dazu gelernt! 😊
I have always ate the way you have described as European. I was born in and live in sw Lower Michigan. I never noticed how others ate until I was in my mid 40's. I visited Germany, Austria, and Italy last March. I never noticed how anyone else ate. When I return, I will make it a point to notice.
You've a phenomenal grip on the American sound palette when speaking English. Few people who come to English as a second language accomplish this. You're indistinguishable from a native speaker. Is your clarity and ease in speech a result of long labors or of having a good ear and natural talent? Likely both. As to how one attacks one's food, I long ago noticed that my European friends did a far simpler and less contrived dance with their eating utensils and I aped them.
I just absorb the food like an amoeba. Then I just float around until I'm hungry again 😁
When I, an American, lived in Italy, I followed the continental pattern, but got some looks when I returned home and forgot to switch. I do remember eating a pasta primo piato in a restaurant and the waiter brought a spoon. Che fai! I was insulted! My dinner companion laughed! Unt so weiter.
Not just in Germany, but all over Europe, the knife goes into the right and the fork into the left hand, and there they stay until you finish eating. Then lay them down on the plate in the 20-past-4 position.
I've also grown up with the etiquette that the fork is a stabbing tool , not a scooping tool (like a spoon). So it's never switched upside down, even when piling on food. The knife just pushes food on top of the downturned fork, from the outside inward against the center of the plate, elbows held in. But pasta only with the fork in the right hand and pizza just by hand (because it's bread I suppose).
Interesting video Feli. Interestingly, as an American I eat with my left hand and cut with my right hand, however that may have something to do with the fact that I'm left-handed. When I was young, I'm fortunate enough that my parents didn't force me to use my right hand as dominant as happened with many children in the 60s.
Me too! Left-handed and never saw the point switching hands to cut. Going to Germany at age 17 was my very first experience of appearing to eat "normally." Lol
I'm a 64 yo American, but I never learned the cut and switch thing. I'll hold the fork in my right hand if eating pre-cut or scoopable stuff, but it stays in the left when using a knife. Maybe cut and switch was never popular among the Pennsylvania Dutch? That was my mother's background and of course I learned table manners from her.
I think everyone knows this difference though because it crops up in several movies as a means of recognizing an America spy in Europe or a European spy in America.
In my 40's here, born in PA and German nationality. Never did the cut and switch or seen family do it growing up. Been eating "European" style my whole life and never even knew it.
I have held the fork in the left hand since making a conscience decision to do so when I was a child. The rest of my family used the switching method. Having lived a while in Germany it was nice to not be the only one.
When I eat something that needs to be cut I do it European style and keep the fork in my left hand. If a knife isn't needed I use the fork with my right hand. A knife isn't involved when I'm scooping something.
I grew up thinking that pre-cutting food into bite sized pieces was for children as well. But my great grandparents were from, Spain. So that might explain it.
No, precutting or switching hands is considered childish and bad dining etiquette in America as well. It used to even be taught in schools to eat as Feli described.
As someone who moved to Germany from the US I'm actually just impressed people can eat burgers with forks and knives! Mine just fall apart when I have tried and I'm still trying to figure out how to achieve this 😂 On the other hand I've slowly started using the European cutting methods now not switching hands.
When visiting the US I am impressed how Americans are able to eat a burger with fingers. When I try I get ketchup all over my fingers and I all over my face😂
Just placing the knife away from the fork when you cut will help. And also reconsider how much you really want to eat that high-calorie, mechanically unstable top bun. It's a convenience when you hold the burger in your hands, but otherwise eh. If you want to, you can eat it separately.
@@alkriman4182open-faced sandwiches used to be diner staples in my area. Maybe it was the local Polish/Ukrainian influence. I like those, but I also like the lettuce and tomatoes and pickles with a 'Merica burger. Gotta get your veggies.
I love your positive attitude. Finde ich echt super. Ich lebe seit 1992 in Los Angeles und komme aus Augschburhg. LOL I love your videos.
Interesting video. I was taught as a young child to eat "Continental" style and learned the differences between that and the "American" style but my parent wanted me to eat "Continental" style. My parents also taught me which forks and spoons to use at a very young age. This was back in the 70s and I really never thoght much of it. I thought everyone was taught this. I eat my food like this every day.
Interesting topic Feli, thanks for your typically excellent historical research. Having been born and raised in the U.S., my German native mother (and Hungarian father) taught me and my older brother the "traditional American" method of cutlery/flatware manipulation, which she used here as well. When we visited her relatives in Hamburg and Dusseldorf in '70 (I was 11, my brother 17), we still "ate like Americans," but I'm sure my mom's dining skills may have reverted back a time or two ('twas many moons ago). BTW, eating a slice of pizza with a knife and fork was always a no-no for this native New Yorker, reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George convinces his co-workers to eat a Snickers candy bar that way. 😂
If I get a slice of pizza to go, then I use my hands. But for a "real" pizza I prefer knife and fork. It's just much less messy with the hands staying clean and no topping falling down (on your clothes)
german here, i would never eat pizza with knife and fork. i will cut it in slices if its not cut and eat it with my hands. my parents do as well. they were in italy a lot when they were young and that is how you eat pizza. using knife and fork for pizza or using a spoon for pasta are germanized things and just wrong.
When in the Navy traveling to other nations, I always tried to blend in. Hence I learned to eat the Continental method. It is always nice not to be readily identified as a tourist. Lastly, having lived in Italy, you may well be kicked out of a restaurant because you cut your pasta. It is the ultimate sin.
A swedish right-hander here. As a young child I learned to eat with the fork in my left hand and the knife in my right. When I got a little older I swithed it around so today I eat with a fork in my right hand and cut the food with the knife in my left hand.
I think it depends. Being right-handed, of course, I use knife-fork to scoop the food. But when I am going to cut anything I switch: if I am going to eat what I cut, I do it right after with the fork in my left hand. Now, I switch back the fork to my right hand if I am going to, for example, scoop a bit of mashed potatoes (rice, pasta, some vegetables, salad, etc.) and then pick the piece of meat I have just cut. But when eating pizza, it is always fork-knife because you cut a piece and eat, cut and eat.