The Etiquette Culture Wars: How to set the table for dinner. Which side is your bread plate on?
William Hanson writes on Etiquette. Views on how to eat peas and how to correctly eat toast have been forthcoming but he has now turned his attention to repatriating tabletops (Financial Times 16th August).
He notes that in Britain all forks are set with their tines (that’s prongs to us humble plebeians)pointing upwards, knives with their blades pointing to the left, spoons with their bowls facing upwards… glasses are set last and placed to the right of the setting, above the knives and spoons.
He concludes the British place setting is the most logical, elegant and enduring. Let’s not allow it to become muddled by misplaced forks and rogue spoons. Reclaim your cutlery and lay your table with the quite confidence of a nation that knows which side its bread plate is on
Much of this explains why I can never work out which knife belongs to who and what it should be used for at official dinners of various kinds…
Kmflett's Blog 
Leave a comment