Tripping down the Primrose Path... In my herb garden.

According to the Etiquette Mavens, the only two foods it is acceptable for one to eat with one's fingers are asparagus (without sauce) and bacon (crisp).

The only time I have ever seen asparagus eaten with fingers was at a rather proper dinner party in Andorra... By the same people that I had seen, on many occasions, eating an orange with a knife and fork.

Nothing trips us up so surely, when trying to fit into another culture, as the things we think we know;

The absolutes that we grew up with;

The habits that are so ingrained that it would not even occur to us that someone could do it differently.

Here are 2 areas I have found, er, interesting:

1. Having inedible bits in the food.

In the U.S. one thinks of broken teeth and lawsuits if encountering something unexpected in the food we eat.

Yet, in London I was served a Pheasant Terrine, at the Ritz no less, and told to 'mind the buckshot'.

I did. I found at least a dozen of the tiny pellets. It was, after all, a wild pheasant terrine.... How did I think they got the bird... Put salt on its tail?

Pizzas served in Europe often come with a few whole black olives. Mind the pits.

Cherry Clafoutis is a classic spring dessert here in France. In a proper clafoutis the cherries still have the stones intact. It adds more flavor. Mind the stones.

You might find a jar of homemade plum preserves on your breakfast table at a B & B. Mind the stones.

2. Figuring out how to eat the food.

Mussels

They're everywhere in the summer. Here are 2 tips:

Do not order mussels unless they are written on the chalkboard as the special of the day. You only get decent mussels in restaurants with chalkboards, and, if they're not the special, they're not fresh.

You eat mussels by using the half shell of one as your eating implement, to loosen and scoop the othrer mussels into your mouth. Choose a nice large shell as your tool.