The Victorian’s really hated any form of eating that used the fingers. Everything in a Victorian’s existence was meant to separate the humans from animals. Bodily functions were never spoken of. Animal drives, such as eating or mating were to be avoided. This led to an unending set of rules when one sat down for meals, each of which was intended to make food an act of religious expression, social camaraderie, moral instruction or family cohesion. It also meant that the Victorian’s designed eating implements for practically every food so that nothing would have to be touched.
Well into the 20th Century, etiquette guides have a short list for foods that are acceptable to be eaten with the fingers. One of the only foods that seems to have continually been acceptable to eat with the fingers are bread, crackers and some types of cake.
Bread has always been eaten with the fingers. This goes back to biblical ideas of breaking bread. Only the Bible trumped the Victorian’s squeamishness of eating with your hands. Indeed, it was considered downright shocking to cut bread rolls at the dinner table.
“Bread, for instance” is never cut but always broken into small pieces and lifted to the mouth with the fingers. Butter is seldom provided at the formal dinner, but if it is, each little piece of bread is buttered individually just before it is eaten.”
Book of Etiquette by Lilian Eichler, 1922
This was true of even sliced bread that might be placed on the bread plate. You still needed to eat it with your fingers. This might explain the Victorian love of the sandwich and pasty. It was the rare meal that was acceptable to be eaten with the hands as it was encased in bread. They must have made the picnic or day trip feel absolutely freewheeling.
Bready foods were also grouped in the, “fine to eat with your fingers” classification. Crackers, cookies and tight textured cakes such as un-iced tea cakes were all eaten with the fingers. You might remember from our discussion of tea, that forks were generally not placed on a tea table. Now, if a cake is iced or has filling, then you are supposed to eat it with a fork. The further away from bread you get, the more likely it is you must eat it with a piece of silverware.
The odd exception to the iced cake rule is petit fours, they use a hard fondant icing to render them easy to pick up and can be eaten with one bite so they are often listed as finger foods, but this is controversial. Larger petit fours, that require more than one bite should always be eaten with a fork. The wrappings that often come with store bought petit fours should be used to pick up the petit four from the tray and placed on the plate, (there will likely be pretty tongs or a small cake server to do this). Once you’re ready to eat the petit four, the wrapper is left on the plate and after picking up the tiny cake with the fingers, it is consumed with one bite. The controversy arises because some think that no matter how tiny a petit four is, it isn’t dainty to stuff the whole thing in your mouth. Some allow for two bites, if done quickly so as not to let the fondant get soft on the fingers. Other say to use a dessert fork. Let common sense be your guide I say.
Other exceptions are items like corn on the cob:
“Corn on the cob is without a doubt one of the most difficult foods to eat gracefully. And yet it is too delicious to forego the pleasure of eating it at all. It is entirely permissible to use the fingers in eating corn, holding it lightly at each ent; sometimes a napkin is used in holding it. Many a foresighted hostess, when serving corn on the cob, provides each guest with a short, keep, steel-bladed knife with rich the kernels may be cut from the cob easily. This is by far the most satisfactory method.”
Book of Etiquette by Lilian Eichler, 1922
Eichler goes on to say that French artichoke leaves are acceptable to pull off and dip in butter. Lobster claws can be pulled apart with the fingers. She even states that fruits such as oranges, apples, grapes, peaches and plums can be eaten with the fingers. Celery, radishes and olives too.
The Victorian’s would not agree with her assessment of fruits and it shows how much fashion and the mores of a time will influence etiquette changes. Back then, was a little too “Adam and Eve” to have someone pick up a piece of fruit and bite down. Fruit knives and forks were a favorite during the turn of the century, with sometimes complex guides for cutting and peeling each fruit. Strawberry forks were used for spearing small berries. With only cherries and grapes really being considered acceptable as finger foods, thought this is why they were often cut, seeded or stoned and placed in fruit salads, allowing the guest to use a fork or spoon, depending on the presentation.
Now-a-days it’s hard to imagine having rules barring eating with our hands. It probably was us Americans that really put the final nail in this coffin. We loved picnics with fried chicken, corn roasting by the river and crab bakes by the sea. Casual and informal eating was normal from coast to coast. Hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries and pizza are all foods we don’t just expect, we demand you eat with your fingers. How times change.
