I read one theory of the difference in knife/fork usage between the US and Europe that said that the settlers in what is now the US didn't start using forks on a wide basis until the 18th century or so, and as a result, would cut with their knives in the right hand and spoons in the left to steady the meat, and then scoop up the meat pieces in the spoon after switching it over to the right hand. After the fork became more widely available, they kept the same motions.
I'm not really up on how cilantro tastes, so can't rate yes/no on it, but I definitely do not like grapefruit, can take or leave squid, and lovelovelove root beer (although A&W and Hires are worse than Barq's in terms of massmarket brands, and IBC and Sprechters are much better in the higher-end brands). But, I'll say that one of my favorite soft drinks is the ginger ale available at Big Bowl restaurants here in Chicagoland--real ginger infused in fizzy soda water, yum!
This is such a nice case of the excellent timing of a hivemind-at-work - just over the weekend, over shabbat meal, we were wondering about the knife-in-the-right-hand-fork-in-the-left, with the sometimes switch-the-fork-to-the-right-hand-in-order-to-eat that some people do.
[Edit: our very rough based on almost-nothing conclusion was that most of the people who switch immigrated (or their parents or grandparents immigrated) from European countries (Ashkenazi), while those who don't switch (I don't) - mostly from everywhere else, North Africa, for example (Sepharadi).]
Of the family of the Good Ex of the East, the German relatives didn't switch and the USian relatives did. I do. Er, for data collecting purposes. Hi, Nilly!
Emily! How are you doing? Have you moved already, or are you in the process of moving?
In process. About one more day, perhaps and a half. Oh. You asked an hour ago. My apologies; I've been multitasking.
Well, I've answered almost an hour later, so it's not like I don't know the multitasking of which you speak.
About one more day, perhaps and a half.
Good luck with that! On both ends of the move, the one you have to leave and the one you're getting into.
oddly, sleeping did not make the crankpants go away.
but, ita, you don't want to date.
Hi. Nilly!
Now I need to go to work.
My parents tried to get me to switch the knife once I was done cutting. But I thought it was really dumb, so I'd only do it for a while before going back to the no-switching.
For the record: cilantro: yea, olives, grapefruit, rootbeer (and all sodas): nay. I also like hot pepper (up to a point) which makes the dish taste spicier.
Note that receptors for cilantro and receptors for hot peppers are separate from the ones for bitter and the rest, so it's perfectly possible to have a very mixed set of preferences.
In short: "Human taste preferences
freaky."
