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Biting Bread


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I was reading in The Economist that Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage, a British publication, is now on line -- offering advice on table manners:  "It is vulgar to bite into bread."

 

How then do proper Britons consume their loaves?  Have we been lied to about Lord Sandwich?

 

 

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Debrett's is a style guide for the brainless inbred aristocracy. Of course we bite bread. How the f*** else can anyone consume it?

It has been online for years. Also, popular with idiots who don't realise Downton Abbey was fictional.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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The Lord Sandwich story is probably mythical, though. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich certainly existed, but the only evidence was supplied a man named Grosley who came up with the attribution, claiming in 1770 to have witnessed Montagu ordering a dish of beef between two slices of bread in London during a 24 hour card game session.

Unfortunately for the tale, Grosely didn't arrive in London until 1765, but the word was in use earlier than his arrival or his publication of the tale. Also if such an event even happened, Grosely was unlikely to have been there.

 

The bread sandwich is far more likely to have been named after the town in Kent, England and was used as a descriptor for many things originating there, strretching back to the 15th century. Food served on bread goes back even further.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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I cracked up the other day when my dad asked for a spoon to get the soupy part of a goulash. I shouted from the next room that if he had not abandoned his Euro roots for some stupid American dietary guideline he'd just tear off the bread which would always be on the table and mop up the sauce.  No knife or spoon needed ;)

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We always provide bread at dinners.   

1570716541_ScreenShot2021-10-10at6_18_05PM.png.36eb734d8295ab67a132d48cb9bcd4ac.png

It is kind of embarrassing how guests vie for slices to literally wipe their plates.   

ETA this is today's bake that husband and I cut while still warm since there are no guests tonight and as I told husband, "It's YOUR bread.  Cut it while it before it's cool if you want!"

Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)
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15 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I was raised to bite sandwiches and biscuits, of course.  But for rolls or sliced bread served with a meal, the rule was to pull off a bite sized piece, butter (or not) and place it in my mouth.  Pretty sure Miss Manners agrees with me.  

 Agreed. I think that’s what the author meant. 

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1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I was raised to bite sandwiches and biscuits, of course.  But for rolls or sliced bread served with a meal, the rule was to pull off a bite sized piece, butter (or not) and place it in my mouth.  Pretty sure Miss Manners agrees with me.  

As do I.

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On 10/10/2021 at 11:12 AM, liuzhou said:

Debrett's is a style guide for the brainless inbred aristocracy. Of course we bite bread. How the f*** else can anyone consume it?

 

You may have a point. Then again, learning the accepted etiquette of any class is utterly free, which means it's one of the few universally accessible ways of overcoming certain class barriers. I know a couple of lovely people whose table manners at job-interview lunches lost them the jobs they were hoping to get, and that's a shame. I've often eaten with these people, and watching them eat bread is one of the unsettling things about their table manners. They don't actually shake it like a terrier killing a rat, but that's about all I can say. Fair/unfair doesn't enter the picture: every workplace has its culture and the equivalent of secret handshakes, and even if this is arguably silly, applicants are expected to recognize and acknowledge this, whether it's not showing up to an interview in flip-flops and a hat with antlers, or eating in a way that conforms to certain parameters.

 

10 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I was raised to bite sandwiches and biscuits, of course.  But for rolls or sliced bread served with a meal, the rule was to pull off a bite sized piece, butter (or not) and place it in my mouth.  Pretty sure Miss Manners agrees with me.  

 

I was taught the same. Makes less mess, usually. Except croissants. If I break up a croissant like that, the mess is indescribable.

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Michaela, aka "Mjx"
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I modify my behavior based on the circumstance. Business/formal meal, yes, I'll break off a little piece, butter it, and consume. Eating at a casual place with my husband, I'm biting in. I love the sensation of biting into a thickly buttered piece of bread. If I suspect that the crust is going to be too tough to bite easily, I might pull it off first.

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On 10/11/2021 at 6:26 PM, Kim Shook said:

I was raised to bite sandwiches and biscuits, of course.  But for rolls or sliced bread served with a meal, the rule was to pull off a bite sized piece, butter (or not) and place it in my mouth.  Pretty sure Miss Manners agrees with me.  

I too, was taught this.

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