Parisian Table Manners

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6789, 22 February 1932, Page 11

Parisian Table Manners

The hearty way in which they eat is the first thing that strikes you about French people when you meet thorn for a meal. They make no attempt to disguise their belief that meal-time is a delightful occasion, states an overseas writer. So they eat heartily and much. The preparation of food is an affair of great magnitude, and the choosing of it in a restaurant is a serious business.

The Parisian has several table manners which appear curious, and even awkward, to the English visitor. He takos soup from the front of the spoon, a custom which entails holding out the elbow. The spoons are actually made differently from ours, deeper and more pointed, and the Englishman who tried to take soup from the side of such a spoon would find himself in difficulties. The fork is very important. Much food is taken with the help of the fork alone, a plain piece of bread serving as a “ pusher.” The same fork or knife and fork will frequently bo employed for several courses. Individual bread plates are seldom used, unless butter is taken with the bread. The large chunks come to the table in a basket, and, as each diner helps himself, he places his chunk on the tablecloth.

Though smaller for breakfast, table napkins for lunch and dinner are simply enormous—about the size of small tea cloths. Sometimes the napkin is placed on, the lap, but quite often it is tucked into the collar.