Etiquette for Berries and More

Before berry forks came spoons– Berries can be eaten using either a berry fork, a dessert spoon or dessert fork, to suit however the berries are served.

Q. In eating berries as dessert, is it against the rules of etiquette to crush the berries with one’s spoon, or should they be eaten whole with sugar and cream? – Signed, “Anxious”

A. It is not correct to crush the berries and there is no reason for doing it. They should be taken whole on the spoon and then eaten. – Sotoyome Scimitar, 1930

A writer at Harper's Bazaar takes up her pen to put us all to rights on our behavior at the table. We give a part of her lecture as follows: “A cream-cake, and anything of similar nature, should be eaten with knife and fork, never bitten. Asparagus may be taken from the finger and thumb. Peas and beans, we all know, require the fork only. Potatoes, if mashed, should be mashed with the fork. Green corn should be eaten from the cob, but it must be held with a single hand. Celery, cresses, radishes, and all that sort of thing, are, of course, to be eaten from the fingers; the salt should be laid upon one’s plate, not upon the cloth. Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of the knife; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps one to master a refractory morsel. Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. It is not proper to drink with a spoon in the cup; nor should one, by the way, ever quite drain the cup or glass. Spoons are sometimes used with puddings, but forks are the better style. A spoon should never be turned over in the mouth.” – Pacific Rural Press, 1879 

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia