Wiping the plate

While growing up, it was considered perfectly acceptable etiquette to wipe excess gravy or meat juice off the plate with a piece of buttered bread. In fact, many times extra gravy was poured on the plate just for this. I did it, all my friends and family did it. Then one day in my 20's I was eating at the same table as an older woman with a degree in home economics. She looked at me very oddly and asked if I had been raised toi do that. I replied that yes, I had, and calmly finished the last few drops. But now I wonder, how many of you wipe the gravy off your plate? Is it a regional habit? Is it, in fact, polite behavior?

Lots of people do it, including me, when I'm eating alone at home. It is not proper, anymore than the enjoyable slurping of soup.

If I go to a buffet or we have pot luck at church, I'll definitely
try to clean my plate - I try not to let anything go to waste
(sometimes the only thing I can't get rid of are what's left of
pieces of chicken). Today when I went to the local Chinese buffet,
people who had left still had food on their plates. I couldn't
clean up the sauce (from the kung pao chicken and other dishes)
because there was too much. I don't know if it's regional or not.

quote:

Originally posted by rmcielwain


If I go to a buffet or we have pot luck at church, I'll definitely
try to clean my plate - I try not to let anything go to waste
(sometimes the only thing I can't get rid of are what's left of
pieces of chicken). Today when I went to the local Chinese buffet,
people who had left still had food on their plates. I couldn't
clean up the sauce (from the kung pao chicken and other dishes)
because there was too much. I don't know if it's regional or not.

I was taught that in a Chinese restaurant that it was an insult to leave a clean plate. Don't remember where I learned that though.

John

quote:

Originally posted by alb

While growing up, it was considered perfectly acceptable etiquette to wipe excess gravy or meat juice off the plate with a piece of buttered bread. In fact, many times extra gravy was poured on the plate just for this. I did it, all my friends and family did it. Then one day in my 20's I was eating at the same table as an older woman with a degree in home economics. She looked at me very oddly and asked if I had been raised toi do that. I replied that yes, I had, and calmly finished the last few drops. But now I wonder, how many of you wipe the gravy off your plate? Is it a regional habit? Is it, in fact, polite behavior?

I remember when I was growing up that if we had extra gravy on the table, I would put a piece of bread on my plate and put gravy on it. Boy does that bring back memories. We also use to fight sop up the juices on the meat platter. This is perfectly acceptable in my house to this day.

John

Eggs, gravies, meats,veggies, etc.,...as far as I'm concerned is all fair game to be properly sopped up by breads,rolls, or cornbread!! ..Tom B. in Eastern Kentucky.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Lots of people do it, including me, when I'm eating alone at home. It is not proper, anymore than the enjoyable slurping of soup.

Know what? I'm gonna disagree on that. "Slurping" soup might reasonably annoy other diners. Judicious wiping up of a good gravy, sauce or, in my case, salad dressing (I love the combo of bread and any kind of salad dressing) shouldn't bother anyone. In fact, in better Italian restaurants, a small bowl of artisanal virgin olive oil is provided with bread for dipping (a variant of "wiping").

Personally, I consider this such an important part of my enjoyment of a good meal that I really don't give a d_mn if it is bad manners. In fact, I think the notion of it being bad manners is one of those residua of WASPy days gone by that should be forgotten these days because, frankly, it's part of a normal meal in too many cultures other than certain northern European ones (in some, so is slurping soup!).

I figure if I'm paying what I have to pay to eat out these days, I have a right to enjoy my meal in my own way as long as I'm not disturbing other diners and I see no way that "wiping" gravy does that. The only time I might make an exception is a "business" meal or some other situation where I am eating with people I don't really know and might have need to impress, and where enjoying the food is almost not the real point of the meal, but if I'm eating out with friends and they object, I'll simply find other "friends" to eat with in future.

quote:

Originally posted by rmcielwain


Today when I went to the local Chinese buffet,
people who had left still had food on their plates. I couldn't
clean up the sauce (from the kung pao chicken and other dishes)
because there was too much. I don't know if it's regional or not.

I would NEVER let good kung pao (or any other Chinese) sauce go to waste. I just about always add a little rice to it to sop it up and eat it. I've been known to ask for more rice just for this purpose if I have to--never been turned down either.

For those of us who grew up shortly after the Depression or during World War II (when there was food rationing), cleaning your plate was a requirement set down by our parents. ("Don't leave anything on your plate when there are children starving in Europe, etc.") At that time it was even patriotic to whipe up every smidgen with a slice of bread. But now with super-size servings being offered, an overweight population (especially overweight kids) and many people flaunting an excess of money (certainly not me), it is seemingly becoming more popular not to finish everything on your plate. It is somewhat sad, since there are children still starving in Europe, and in Africa, and even in the United States!

Somebody once told me that in Italy, wiping your plate clean with bread is a complement to the chef.

I know, but I'm not into rice, despite growing up in a Filipino
household (maybe a little fried rice) - I took more after my dad,
hence why I love raw onions on my hot dogs, but that's another story.
And I have to agree with 6star's reasoning - I try and finish what
I have (and keep everything in moderation).
Meowzart, great pictures on the Cheesesteak Tour: too bad the only
thing we have that resembles a cheesesteak here is (do I dare say it?)
....subway [|)]

quote:

Originally posted by RibDog

quote:

Originally posted by rmcielwain


If I go to a buffet or we have pot luck at church, I'll definitely
try to clean my plate - I try not to let anything go to waste
(sometimes the only thing I can't get rid of are what's left of
pieces of chicken). Today when I went to the local Chinese buffet,
people who had left still had food on their plates. I couldn't
clean up the sauce (from the kung pao chicken and other dishes)
because there was too much. I don't know if it's regional or not.

I was taught that in a Chinese restaurant that it was an insult to leave a clean plate. Don't remember where I learned that though.

John

Really? Hmm... I'm Chinese and I was thought that it is an insult to leave a dirty plate. Every single morsel of food had to be eaten, down to the last grain of rice. Otherwise:

1. It's a waste of good food.
2. It means you didn't like your host/cook/chef's cooking

I too was raised to sop with bread, biscuits, etc.. that's what they were there for! We especially love to do it with Italian red sauce.. sometimes I'll just make a dish of sauce and bread! And I do it in restaurants, just a little less messily than at home. At least I use bread.. at home my hubby just licks the plate..[|)]

I'm 42 and I grew up in Indiana. These days I love to cook. There is no higer praise than than seconds helpings and clean plates. I have fond memories of my grandfather who ended every meal by covering a plain slice of bread with gravy. If there was any gravy left, he got another slice of bread. Not only is cleaning up sauces acceptable in my house but also using bread to push other foods onto your fork if needed.

Many middle-eastern and north african cultures use bread as their only utensil. And a majority of their dises are sauced or stewed.

I enjoy using bread to continue the meal just a little longer. When there is gravy or sauce left over, bread used to soak and sop is ideal. When there is no bread left, my finger does almost as good a job!

For what it's worth, I found similar entries on several etiquette websites...

GRAVY
If you wish to soak up the extra gravy (and it's a compliment to the cook to do so), put a small piece of bread into the sauce and retrieve it with your fork — tines down, and one small piece of bread at a time. Common sense alert: never wipe up gravy with a piece of bread in your hand.

Not that I really gave it thought before this, but my personal habit is to soak up gravy with bread in my hand in my own home or a very casual dining environment. At a more upscale place, I don't do it.

Ah, well, anyone here like their coffee saucered and blowed?

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Ah, well, anyone here like their coffee saucered and blowed?

We use that term at work, in reference to a completed project. Anyhow, my mother saucers her coffee so as to remove any un-disolved sugar from her cup. After that she pours the coffee back in her cup, and goes about her business.

quote:

Originally posted by cleveland66

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Ah, well, anyone here like their coffee saucered and blowed?

We use that term at work, in reference to a completed project. Anyhow, my mother saucers her coffee so as to remove any un-disolved sugar from her cup. After that she pours the coffee back in her cup, and goes about her business.

I take it then, she doesn't blow on it.

As I recall, it used to be OK to saucer and blow your coffee, but you weren't supposed to fan it with your hat.

I usually sop up excess gravy with a pork chop or a cuban sandwich,if it's my dough that buy's the food, I'll sop with anything available(with the possible exception of edible undies.)

we had the CPC award at my house / Clean Plate Club. sopping / wiping whatever you want to call it was A-OK

I have always thought that (from a cook/chef point of view) that what comes back on the plate is as important as what goes out on it. The method to which one arrives at creating a clean plate is of no consequence to me. It is a compliment when the plate looks as though it can be just returned to the shelf with the clean ones.

quote:

It is a compliment when the plate looks as though it can be just returned to the shelf with the clean ones.

My sister in law used to tell her kids that when they cleaned their plate she didn't have to wash it.

One day, much to her horror, she caught two of her kids licking their plates clean and then putting them back in the cupboard with the clean ones.

There was some "splainin" to do after that!

I'm a sopper, she's a sopper, he's a sopper, wouldn't you like to be a sopper too.....

In eating bouillabasse and beef burgundy there is no better taste than a fresh baquette sopping up the sauce and gravy. When eating Mexican I always use a tortilla to sop up the different sauces. In upscale Italian places usually you will be served very good bread with Olive Oil and Balsamic, you are expected to sop.

But I have a question about the Dunking of Doughnuts into the Coffee Cup.

Is this an acceptable method of eating a doughnut? For me only a plain will work this way.

If you can do it with biscotti, I don't see why you can't do it with a doughnut. Although personally, I never liked to do it myself.

Most etiquette mavens currently have no restrictions on soppage. I'll check my wife's Judith Martin to make sure, if anyone cares that deeply.

At home (and only at home), certain soups I make are to be eaten by crushing about half a sleeve of saltine crackers directly into the bowl, turning the whole thing into a salty mush the approximate texture of papier-mache. I'm quite certain Judith Martin would not agree with this. Therefore, I've made a mental note never to do it in front of her.

When I was a kid mom would set a platter of sirloin steaks in the middle of the table. As I recall the steaks weren't that great, but dipping a piece of bread in the steak juice left in the platter sure was delicious. I find myself to this day mopping up the platter with a good piece of cheese bread, only now the steaks are good too!

I'm sure all of that extra "mopping" is where my 30 extra pounds come from.

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop


At home (and only at home), certain soups I make are to be eaten by crushing about half a sleeve of saltine crackers directly into the bowl, turning the whole thing into a salty mush the approximate texture of papier-mache. I'm quite certain Judith Martin would not agree with this. Therefore, I've made a mental note never to do it in front of her.

When I was growing up, this was the ONLY way to eat chili, crushing Ritz crackers into it before eating, now I crumble cornbread into it.

I have often wiped up the delicious juice or gravy from my plate, much to the consternation of our dog, who sits there looking at me like "Hey, that's my job, err, I mean treat."

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop


At home (and only at home), certain soups I make are to be eaten by crushing about half a sleeve of saltine crackers directly into the bowl, turning the whole thing into a salty mush the approximate texture of papier-mache. I'm quite certain Judith Martin would not agree with this. Therefore, I've made a mental note never to do it in front of her.

My friend made it through college by eating what he called Gally Stew. It consisted of one can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, One entire sleeve of Saltines, and a healthy dose of Soy Sauce. He now realizes that excessive salt isn't good for you so he leaves out the soy sauce.

quote:

Originally posted by axvawe

When eating Mexican I always use a tortilla to sop up the different sauces.

The other day I went to Otilia's, a mid-priced Mex-Mex place, and settled on Conchinita Pibil. It was very good - not the best I ever had but better than most. The pork was swimming in an awesome sauce which I couldn't get enough of. I used tortillas throughout the meal to sop up the sauce but when the meat was all gone, there was still a lot of good sauce left and only 2 measly corn tortillas, which hadn't been very good at soaking up the sauce. I hit upon the idea of submerging them completely, letting them soak a bit, then cutting them up before bringing them to my mouth.

It didn't work very well - they got soggy and just pulled apart in small pieces.

I was nearly alone in the restaurant, the only other diners at the far end of the room. I thought about the dilemma for just a moment, then picked up my iced tea spoon, which hadn't been used, tilted the platter a little so the sauce ran to one end and slurped up a couple of spoonfuls.

The wait staff and hostess smiled and seemed impressed by my diligence; they all urged me to come back soon. Of course, maybe they just want others to be able to witness the spectacle .

I was eating alone; I'm not sure I would have done that if there were tablemates or even if there were other diners at the next table.

Next time, I'll try to remember to specify flour tortillas, which I think will soak up more.

Oh yes. I did not saucer and blow on my coffee. Nor did I stick my thumb in the Cream of Poblano soup to see if it was too hot. I'm not completely without manners.

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

If you can do it with biscotti, I don't see why you can't do it with a doughnut. Although personally, I never liked to do it myself.

Because the whole point of biscotti is that they are "double-baked" to make them very dry so they won't fall apart when dunked. Doughnuts, being soft, turn to mush or other unpleasant things when moistened. I don't oppose dunking doughnuts for anyone who finds it pleasant, but I don't and there is a difference with biscotti--love dunking those, especially the chocolate covered ones so the a bit of chocolate melts into the coffee giving you sort of an instant cafe mocha.

quote:

Originally posted by hermitt4d

The other day I went to Otilia's, a mid-priced Mex-Mex place, and settled on Conchinita Pibil. It was very good - not the best I ever had but better than most. The pork was swimming in an awesome sauce which I couldn't get enough of. I used tortillas throughout the meal to sop up the sauce but when the meat was all gone, there was still a lot of good sauce left and only 2 measly corn tortillas, which hadn't been very good at soaking up the sauce. I hit upon the idea of submerging them completely, letting them soak a bit, then cutting them up before bringing them to my mouth.

It didn't work very well - they got soggy and just pulled apart in small pieces.

I was nearly alone in the restaurant, the only other diners at the far end of the room. I thought about the dilemma for just a moment, then picked up my iced tea spoon, which hadn't been used, tilted the platter a little so the sauce ran to one end and slurped up a couple of spoonfuls.

The wait staff and hostess smiled and seemed impressed by my diligence; they all urged me to come back soon. Of course, maybe they just want others to be able to witness the spectacle .

I was eating alone; I'm not sure I would have done that if there were tablemates or even if there were other diners at the next table.

Next time, I'll try to remember to specify flour tortillas, which I think will soak up more.

Oh yes. I did not saucer and blow on my coffee. Nor did I stick my thumb in the Cream of Poblano soup to see if it was too hot. I'm not completely without manners.

Although generally strongly supportive of wiping, sopping and any other darn way you chose to get that fabulous gravy/juice/jus/sauce or whatever that you paid for into your mouth, I find it LEAST necessary in Mexican restaurants because Mexican red rice mixes well with almost any liquid, soaks it up and makes SUPERB eating. Of course, I generally do accompany the sauced rice with an occasional bite of a buttered corn tortilla.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Ah, well, anyone here like their coffee saucered and blowed?

Michael,
My Grandpa Carlton referred to it as "sassered and blowed." He was more literate than that, you understand, but it was an old-time Florida cracker expression, and it's still used in what little back country remains in Central Florida.
Now, me - I put ice in mine to cool it. Learned that from a friend from Rhode Island who loved iced coffee, and have done it ever since.
Sassily, Ort. Carlton in 30601-land.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by cleveland66

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Ah, well, anyone here like their coffee saucered and blowed?

As I recall, it used to be OK to saucer and blow your coffee, but you weren't supposed to fan it with your hat.

Dearfolk,
My father's uncle, Guess Altman, actually did just that. "Guess, that's impolite!" Grandma Carlton, his younger sister, admonished him loudly (he was nearly about stone deaf) when we were visiting.
"Beats gettin' scalded," Guess mumbled in reply, fanning his shapeless hat (it looked very much like Jed Clampett's on "The Beverly Hillbillies") to and fro lickety-split over his coffee.
Guess was a real, live Florida cowboy, and was - believe it or not - the subject of several of Frederic Remington's supposedly-Western paintings, many of which were actually done in Florida!
Thanks for reviving that memory.
Nostalgically, Ort. Carlton in 30601-land.

quote:

Originally posted by BT

quote:

Originally posted by hermitt4d

The other day I went to Otilia's, a mid-priced Mex-Mex place, and settled on Conchinita Pibil. It was very good - not the best I ever had but better than most. The pork was swimming in an awesome sauce which I couldn't get enough of. I used tortillas --yada, yada, yada...

Although generally strongly supportive of wiping, sopping and any other darn way you chose to get that fabulous gravy/juice/jus/sauce or whatever that you paid for into your mouth, I find it LEAST necessary in Mexican restaurants because Mexican red rice mixes well with almost any liquid, soaks it up and makes SUPERB eating. Of course, I generally do accompany the sauced rice with an occasional bite of a buttered corn tortilla.

Not possible in this instance. The sides were a smallish portion of refried black beans and a generous portion of pickled red onions and jalapenos, both on a separate plate. Starting with the soup as I did I did not expect to be able to get down a desert, but the portions were modest and I went for a Cuatro Leches cake (33.333% better than Tres Leches). The sauce was very good but I did NOT even consider dipping the cake in it!

Thank goodness many of the stupid etiquette rules of the past are no more. If you are paying for the food, and it is good, you certainly have the right to sop up any gravies/sauces with bread! I have never understood some of the rules of the years of my youth (50s and 60s)

Call me old fashioned, but there are settings at which proper manners are important.

Would you folks really sop up a gravy with bread in a restaurant setting with non-family members?

I was well-schooled by Emily Post and know when I am breaking the rules. I'll break them at home (as my wife often reminds me) and occasionally at a restaurant, but never when outside of my immediate family.

quote:

Originally posted by Brent Kulman

Call me old fashioned, but there are settings at which proper manners are important.

Would you folks really sop up a gravy with bread in a restaurant setting with non-family members?

Absolutely. Do it all the time. Emily Post be d_mned if she disapproves of that. Sorry, but like I said, it's an increasingly multi-culti world and this prohibition of sopping is a strictly WASP/Yankee notion. It's not even Anglo-Saxon, 'cause I think lots of sopping happens in Britain. And sopping not only happens, but is expected and even promoted in much of the rest of the world. My suspicion is that its condemnation is a product of social climbing pretentions in the Victorian era. Reasonable etiquette is based on an effort not to offend others and I fail to see how sopping, if done noiselessly and carefully, can offend anyone who isn't too easily offended. Anyway, dining to me is a pleasureable experience that I wouldn't care to share with anyone too inhibited to sop.

By the way, don't try to tell me sopping is considered especially horrific to a Carolina gentleman, because I did some of my most enthusiastic sopping while a student at Duke. But I will acknowledge there's probably little worth sopping in Chapel Hill so if you went there, it wouldn't surprise me you're against it.

quote:

Originally posted by BT

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

If you can do it with biscotti, I don't see why you can't do it with a doughnut. Although personally, I never liked to do it myself.

Because the whole point of biscotti is that they are "double-baked" to make them very dry so they won't fall apart when dunked. Doughnuts, being soft, turn to mush or other unpleasant things when moistened. I don't oppose dunking doughnuts for anyone who finds it pleasant, but I don't and there is a difference with biscotti--love dunking those, especially the chocolate covered ones so the a bit of chocolate melts into the coffee giving you sort of an instant cafe mocha.

I'm aware of the whole point of biscotti. What I was saying is that if dunking biscotti into coffee is acceptable, then the concept of dunking pastries into coffee is clearly not forbidden by etiquette.

quote:

Originally posted by BT
Sorry, but like I said, it's an increasingly multi-culti world and this prohibition of sopping is a strictly WASP/Yankee notion. It's not even Anglo-Saxon, 'cause I think lots of sopping happens in Britain.

I did a little research and learned that sopping is unacceptable in Britain unless one uses a fork. The arbiters of etiquette in the US follow the same standard. So, proper sopping is not strictly a WASP/Yankee matter, but a practice that is governed by the same standards on both sides of the pond. I'm glad to discover that there is an acceptable way to sop and will enthusiastically embrace the practice.

quote:

Anyway, dining to me is a pleasureable experience that I wouldn't care to share with anyone too inhibited to sop.

Equating etiquette with inhibitions is a sophistic pairing. Of course, the opposite is almost always the case.

quote:

By the way, don't try to tell me sopping is considered especially horrific to a Carolina gentleman, because I did some of my most enthusiastic sopping while a student at Duke.

I wasn't aware that there were any Carolina gentleman at Duke. I thought they were all from New Jersey.

quote:

But I will acknowledge there's probably little worth sopping in Chapel Hill so if you went there, it wouldn't surprise me you're against it.

I thought that Duke students did all of their sopping in Chapel Hill, given the lack of entertainment options in Durham.

Next topic: When cutting food into bite-size portions, do you hold your fork like a cello?

quote:

Originally posted by Brent Kulman

quote:

Originally posted by BT

Next topic: When cutting food into bite-size portions, do you hold your fork like a cello?

Wiping the plate

After eatin' some of my country fried steak & home-made "Cardiac Arrest" (patent pending ) mashed taters I usually lick the plate...

Is sopping politically correct in Mexico? I had a very nice chicken mole for lunch today at a new Mexican restaurant in town, but I didn't have a spoon, so I rolled up the tortillas served with it and used them to mop up the delicious mole sauce. The staff didn't seem to take exception, but then I always wonder if they just think "all gringos are crazy" anyway

quote:

Originally posted by meowzart

Somebody once told me that in Italy, wiping your plate clean with bread is a complement to the chef.

An friend of mine from Naples confirmed this. He'd been raised to clean his plate every time. Then he travelled to Yugoslavia, where he learned that cleaning your plate is a signal to your host that you want another helping.

But WWJD? (What would Julia do?)

Julia, bless her, would tell Emily Post and her followers to get bent, and that's what we love about her.

I do it with everything, garlic bread and spagetti and sauce, sandwich into drippings, everything. It inhances the dining expierence.