Finger Food List

Dear Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee,

While having breakfast in a restaurant, I noticed a lady eating bacon with her fingers. Was this a faux pas?

Signed,

Surprised

Dear Surprised,

Bacon is one of those foods that can be eaten with either the fingers or with a fork. If the bacon is very crispy, it would be easier and practical to eat with fingers.

In brief below is a list of foods that can be eaten with fingers according to CuisineNet (1997) and Yazigi (1996).

20 FINGER FOODS (CuisineNet, 1997; Yazigi, 1996)

1. Artichoke: to eat it, pull a leaf off, dip it, scrape the flesh from the base of the leaf with your top teeth, and discard the leaf on the plate provided. Continue eating the leaves until the prickly "choke" is revealed. Switch to fork and knife to remove the choke, and also to eat the heart and base.

2. Asparagus: may be eaten with the fingers if it is not covered with sauce.

3. Bacon - crisp

4. Bread - tear off bite-sized pieces; toast cut in half

5. Cookies

6. Corn on the Cob: butter one or two rows at a time.

7. Deviled Eggs

8. French Fries , large steak fries might be best eaten with a fork.

9. Fried Chicken, may be eaten with fingers at a barbecue or fast food restaurant. In a nicer restaurant, fried chicken is best eaten with a fork and knife, and just leave the remainder on the bone, do not eat with fingers.

10. Fruits and Berries on the Stem: strawberries with hulls, cherries with stems, or grapes in bunches. Fruits such as apples, peaches, or pears can be cut into quarters, then eaten with fingers or dessert fork.

11. Hamburgers and hot dogs: cut hamburger in half. May be eaten with fingers at a barbecue or fast food restaurant. Use a fork and knife for a particularly messy hamburger.

12. Hors d'Oeuvres, Canapes: almost everything that is served at a cocktail party or during a pre-meal cocktail hour.

13. Muffins, tear off bite-sized pieces

14. Nuts

14. Olives

16. Pickles

17. Pizza - casual restaurant, unless too loaded with toppings.

17 Sandwiches: any sandwich that is not open-faced, not too tall to fit in the mouth, not saturated with dripping sauces.

19. Shrimp

20. Sushi, with fingers or chopsticks

For more information, see http://cuisinenet.com/home/?v=237

and

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00EFDE123DF931A1575AC0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3