Table Salt Etiquette

Most hosts and hostesses will expect the salting of eggs at the table, as eggs are often times brought to the table in the shell. As Etiquipedia’s dear grandmother used to advise, eggs should never be salted by the cook or chef. It is too easy to over-salt eggs and impossible to remove salt once it’s put in. – This antique silver egg set features an adorable chick perched on a ringed dish for eggs, an egg-shaped salt cellar, a pepper shaker and a holder in the shape of a cracked egg half.

                   Quick Tips Table Salt Etiquette

🧂Salt can be placed on the dining table in shakers, grinders or very small dishes known as dips or “cellars.”

🧂If it is a large dinner party and there are not enough small salts and peppers for each place setting, there should be a set between every two place settings.

🧂If there is no small spoon accompanying a salt dip or cellar, one can use the tip of a clean knife blade to salt their food.

🧂 Salting food in a restaurant is not considered an insult if you are accustomed to a certain dish there, however, to do so without at least taking a small taste prior to adding anything to alter the flavor, may signal an unsophisticated or diminished palate. 

🧂 Unless one is being served eggs in the shell or something similar, salting something immediately in a private home is highly discouraged if one wishes to appear well-mannered. Any other food or dish should be tasted first. And do thank the cook!  It is considered a “non-verbal complaint,” comparable to pouring catsup or some other condiment all over one’s dish, prior to tasting. It is most impolite.

🧂Even if you are asked for your opinion, it is never polite to criticize someone’s food in their home or if they have brought it somewhere for you and others to enjoy.

🧂If you do not care for something you have been served, you should not be dishonest, but should say the most positive thing you can about it in the nicest way. For example, “This is incredibly spicy! I know several people who would really enjoy this dish! My dad, for one would love this!” Said with a smile, it would go over well.

🧂 Salt and pepper are to be considered “married,” so they should be kept together at the dining table. If you are asked to pass one or the other, pass them together.

🧂 At a formal or multi-course dinner, salt and pepper shakers should be removed from the dinner table on a tray with the rest of the food from the preceding course, before the dessert is brought in.

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

Table Etiquette and Beverages

Tipologie di bicchieri e tazze secondo il codice internazionale. Or… Types of glasses and cups according to the international code.- From “GalaTime: it is always time for good manners”!

When setting the table, always pick up every object on the table with a cloth, a towel or gloves (preferably white and cotton) so as not to leave fingerprints and streaks; I have happened to see some people holding the glasses by putting their fingers inside the glass. Never do this! Always pick up glasses from the stem or from the bottom, checking that there are no lime stains, that they are clear and transparent.

As we have already said, make certain that they do not have the smell of a cupboard, because it can happen that if glasses are not often used, scents or smells can emanate from them and alter the scents of the wines. It should also be emphasized that etiquette requires that wine or other beverage glasses are never colored. They may have small decorations, but they are always transparent.

Plan for that every four diners at your dinner table, you will have at least one jug of water, a wine decanter, a salt shaker each time. (If you are a guest, never ask the hostess for salt if it is not already on the table).

Water and all other beverages are not properly brought in plastic containers to the table: crystal, silver or glass are absolutely the materials which are preferred when entertaining; we can decide to decant a wine in special decanters, but nowadays, in agreement with the sommellerie, the original bottle on the table is granted, perhaps accompanied by a coaster, to avoid staining the tablecloth. 

Although already mentioned in another chapter, it is reiterated that the cans of the various beverages on the market are banned from the table and not only for a good aesthetic taste linked to the art of the device, according to etiquette, but above all because we know well that many they contain too much sugar which is harmful to both the figure and our health. Therefore, let us eliminate them from the diet, especially that of our children, so as not to accustom them to a wrong taste: better then replace these drinks with home-made infusions or healthy citrus juices. – Translated from “Galatime,” by Petra Carsetti and Carlo Cambi

Petra Carsetti was born into a gastronomic minded family… true lovers of excellent foods and wines. From an early age she showed a great passion for the table, which she later developed by working in important, well-known Italian restaurants. Since 2005, she has written many books on food and wine, along with guides to Italian restaurants, specializing also in galateo and etiquette at the Accademia Italiana Galateo and ANCEP (the Association of Ceremonialists for Public Institute). She teaches etiquette in schools to adults and children, is a consultant for various political and economic authorities, and she has a weekly column in a historic newspaper. She also writes for various other newspapers, and in September she will come out with her new book, “GalaTime: it is always time for good manners”!

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

Dining Guest Don’ts of 1916

     When you have your food, don’t hesitate about beginning to eat. Old-fashioned people wait until all are served before eating, but it isn’t strictly correct to do this. Of course, if you happen to be one of a home party, where you are passing vegetables to others, you would naturally see that you had done your part before beginning to enjoy your own share of the meal. —A Theodore Haviland patent design for a plate of the era.

A Few Don’ts For the Table

Here are a few valuable “don’ts” for the table; they are worth remembering: 

• When your hostess passes you a plate, don’t offer to pass it on to another person. Take what your hostess intended for you. 
• And when you have your food, don’t hesitate about beginning to eat. Old-fashioned people wait until all are served before eating, but it isn’t strictly correct to do this. Of course, if you happen to be one of a home party, where you are passing vegetables to others, you would naturally see that you had done your part before beginning to enjoy your own share of the meal. 
• Don’t take a second “helping” of soup or fish if you are going through a meal of several courses. 
• Never cut your bread. It should he broken on the cloth or the plate that may be provided, and broken without raising it from the table. 
• Don’t shake salt over your food. Salt and mustard should be placed on the side of the plate. 
• For the sake of your neighbors, don't stick out your elbows when dining. People who have acquired this very bad habit should practice until they find another angle. When manipulating food on the plate, use the hands from the wrist, not from the elbow's. 
• Here are the distinctive glasses used for particular wines : For those of the sparkling variety, we use a very broad and shallow glass; for Burgundy and claret, large goblet shaped glasses are correct; Sherry and Madeira require ordinary wine glasses, but port is poured into somewhat larger bell shaped glasses ; green glasses are used for hock. — San Francisco Call, 1916

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

Table Etiquette Explained

If salt is liked with celery or radishes, it should be placed on the bread and butter plate and the relish dipped in it as needed.– Photo source Instagram

There seems to be quite a difference of opinion as to the proper forms of etiquette for the table. Simplicity and the thing that seems easiest to do should be the guiding rule, but some customs have become fixed and are generally accepted in all civilized countries; therefore, it would seem wise to accept them, even though in some ways they may seem cumbersome. It is always correct to serve on the left of the diner because it is the only comfortable way for the right-handed person. It is the custom as well to remove dishes from the left side rather than from the right, which might seem easier. It has become so subconsciously grounded in everyone’s mind that the removing of plates is done always on the left side, that any divergence from this is bound to bring about collision with the right hand of the diner. 

The question is often asked how to remove fish bones and the pits of fruit from the mouth gracefully. It seems to me the most inconspicuous way is to push the bone or stone well forward with the tongue and gently remove it with the forefinger and thumb to the side of the plate. Prune pits and melon seeds naturally slip into the spoon held very close to the lips and are then placed noiselessly on the edge of the plate. The bread and butter plates are placed on the left of the large plate forward. If salt is liked with celery or radishes, it should be placed on the bread and butter plate and the relish dipped in it as needed. In case a salad is served with the main course, that is placed on the left also, but on a line with the larger plate. All beverages, are, of course, placed on the right. 

When the man of the house is doing the carving on the table and there is no maid to serve, it would seem easier to have the vegetables placed before the mistress. In many homes, the man of the house serves both meat and vegetables. This is, however, a matter of convenience and taste. If there is a maid and carving is done on the table, the hot plates are placed before the carver and the meat is served, the first going to the mistress of the house and the next to the guest of honor. When all the meat is served, the waitress will pass the vegetables, beginning with the hostess, the idea being that the hostess is the one who gives the signal to begin to eat. We used to be taught as children that it was bad form to begin eating the meat until all the vegetables were served, but this has been done away with by a good many people who prefer to eat their meat while it is hot rather than to wait until all the vegetables have been passed. But in all instances, the hostess gives the signal to begin to eat.  – By Florence Austin Chase, 1929

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

Etiquette for Salt And Such

Individual salt cellars have the ability to elevate any place setting. They can take a look from “How nice...” to “How elegant!” Or, from “Drabulous to fabulous!” as a friend once enthused. And though we are not suggesting that salts and peppers are set on a table merely for decorative purposes, Etiquipedia kindly requests that you politely taste your food first, prior to adding anything like salt. Even after tasting the food, do not send a “non-verbal” complaint to the host or hostess by making a show of heavily salting and peppering your meal. As a thoughtful guest, please remember that you are not there to eat, but to dine and enjoy the company of your hosts.

– Photo of a Michael Aram salt cellar and salt spoon

Salt Etiquette, 

with a Touch of Pepper

🍴Polite guests always taste food prior to adding salt –or adding any spice or condiment– out of respect and graciousness to those who have prepared a meal, or invited one to a meal.

🍴If you are a guest, even after tasting the food, take care not make a show of salting your food. This is rude. It implies that the meal is “less than it should be.” It also could imply that you have an unsophisticated palate and are not able to taste subtle flavors in the meal. If invited to dinner in a private home, “non-verbal complaints” like salting food before tasting, or pouring catsup all over your food, is most impolite.

🍴In some countries, like Portugal, it is impolite to even ask for salt. It is considered an insult to the chef, whether you are a guest in someone’s home, or in restaurants.  If salt, pepper, other spices or condiments are not on the table, do not ask for them to be brought to you.

🍴The etiquette rule above applies in the reverse situation, as well. If one is hosting someone from another culture or country, and they prefer to have salt and pepper at the table, though it is not the norm for you, feel free to provide these items to make your guests feel more welcome. 

🍴 If invited as a guest to eat in a restaurant, or perhaps a wedding reception or birthday celebration, and someone else is paying the tab, such non-verbal complaints about the meal are impolite, as well. Remember, you are a guest!

🍴If asked to pass the salt, always pass it with the pepper, so that the two do not get separated.

🍴 Always say, "Excuse me" if you need to reach in front of someone caught up in conversation, when passing salt (or anything else) at the table.

🍴Be aware of those around you at the table. If the salt is nearest you (this also applies to butter, rolls, etc...) don't allow yourself to be so caught up or lost in your conversation, that someone has to reach in front of you to pass the requested item.

🍴 Judith Martin shakes out “The Salt and Pepper Question”

Q: In a set of identical salt and pepper shakers, should the salt be placed in the shaker with one or two holes? My friend's feeling is that the salt is used more, therefore it should go in the two-hole shaker; I feel that because it pours faster, the salt belongs in the shaker with one hole. We resolve to abide by your decision. 

A: If Miss Manners were to tell you, in a blustery way, to use salt cellars and pepper grinders, would you consider it a cop-out, as it were? Yes, of course you would. The truth is that Miss Manners didn't know that salt pours faster than pepper, and is now sitting here with little black and white specks all over her lap. Just a minute. (Brush, brush, brush.) 

All right now, the decision is that your friend's reasoning is incorrect, but her conclusion is correct. (Miss Manners used to get her arithmetic papers back with that remark.) Salt goes in the two-hole shaker, not because it is used more often, but because more of it is used. Put another way; over-peppered food tastes worse than over-salted food. – Miss Manners, Copyright (c) 1979 and United Feature Syndicate 

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