The Meticulous British Method For Eating Peas Using A Fork, According To Royal Etiquette

If there's one phrase that epitomizes British sensibility, it's "manners maketh the man." The royals in particular are best known for their stiff upper lip, restraint, and cordial demeanor when it comes to public events. Believe it or not, according to royal protocol, there's even a polite way to eat peas. Showcased in a TikTok video from British etiquette coach William Hanson, peas should be meticulously speared through the tines of a fork instead of being piled onto the underside to eliminate the risk of them flying off in all directions.

While scooping up your peas with a spoon like a toddler is the easiest way to eat them, you don't want to swap your fork and knife for a spoon in between taking bites of a serving of steak and mashed potatoes. However, piling those finicky fellas onto the curve of your fork can be a balancing act and shoveling them into your mouth at speed is an ungraceful move in a formal dining environment and one of those little-known etiquette rules you might be breaking at the dinner table. The solution, advises Hanson, who is also the director of an etiquette training institute called The English Manner, is to turn your fork over, use the tines to pierce through a few peas at once, and push them along with your knife so they have no chance of rolling away. With this elegant technique, you can drive through several peas in one move, but be wary of overdoing it; taking smaller bites at the table is de rigueur.

To guarantee that your peas stay on your fork, push another "stickier" item of your meal on with them, such as grits, polenta, or mashed taters. Though all this may sound a little over the top (they're just peas after all), this technique can prevent embarrassment at the table, particularly in an alien environment that isn't as casual as you're used to. Peas that are slightly yielding but still have some body to their spherical structure are easier to spear with a fork. One of the mistakes everyone makes when preparing peas is adding salt to the cooking water, but seasoning them at this stage can toughen their outer skin, making it trickier to pierce through them. On the other hand, overcooking peas until they become sloppy is another faux pas (unless you're making a batch of British-style mushy peas to serve alongside fish and chips). If we had to choose? It might be easier to push squishier peas onto the tines of your fork and circumvent the risk of any verdant escapees spilling back onto your plate.