It was an interesting leçon about table manners, how eating habits evolve in the recent 2 decades, how your eating behavior reflects your social status.
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We read the transcription on leçon 26.
- "Heureusement, les clivages ne sont plus aussi tranchés qu’au 18e."
- Yannick: Mademoiselles, Monsiers, les clivages en Français ce n’est pas la même chose que en Anglais.
- Yannick: Ici c’est les differences.
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We had a little quiz.
1. Quel légume pouvez-vous saisir avec vos doigts?
- l’asperge, la carotte, le concombre
2. De quel côté du convive devez-vous servir le vin?
- à sa gauche, à sa droite, face à lui
3. Lequel de ces aliment peut être coupé avec votre couteau?
- le pain, la salade, l’oeuf
Why can’t one cut the salad with a knife? There is a historical reason. In the past, the knives are made of silver. It is believed that the vinegar from the salad will erode the silver in the knife. So, what can you do if the leaf is too huge? The French recommends folding the greens using a piece of the bread and a fork! Then, we asked: "Aren’t the fork made of silver as well in the past??"
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Behaviours to avoid:
- Se jeter sur son assiette (dive into your food)
- Parler la bouche pleine (talk with a mouth full of food)
- Passer le bras sur sa bouche pour s’essuyer (wipe your mouth with your arm)
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I am so happy to see Choon Hau, Mei Chen (and her better half), Meng, Ming and Ivy arriving for lunch at Olio. It’s been a while seen we last sit together à la table. Somehow it feels like a family is back for lunch again. Cela m’a fait chaud au coeur! Ming has rejoined Taxi 2 class in the morning and Meng is doing Studio. This lunch was suggested by Mei Chen, to catch up with me and everyone before I get married. It’s a good chance for me to distribute the invite cards!
Mei Chen even brought along a polaroid - we just managed to snap one shot before it got stuck.
Taken by Choon Hau
