National Chip Week: Chip Etiquette Guide

22 February 2013

Whether you like them with gravy, with cheese or even with chocolate (yes, we don’t know what that’s about either) we should all be trying to eat our chips with decorum.

Etiquette expert William Hanson is helping us celebrate National Chip Week by giving us some tips on how we should be eating our beloved chips.

1. When eating chips at a table, they should always be eaten with cutlery! Fingers just will not do when in a formal or semi-formal dining situation. Correctly, the fork is placed in the left hand, tines facing down, and the knife is held in the right hand (but never held like it’s a pen!) Svelte French fries are more tempting to pick up and eat with the fingers, but resist this temptation when out and about. When at home, behind closed doors and with curtains firmly drawn, you may use fingers. Chunkier chips are never picked up.

2. If you wish to have ketchup, barbecue sauce or mayonnaise with your chips, then do not dollop it all over the chips. Simply, decant a little from the pot, ramekin or bottle to the side of your plate, then using cutlery, dip the chip in and devour – with your mouth closed, naturally. If the ramekin of sauce is for sharing, then use only a clean knife, or preferably, a teaspoon provided, to avoid dirtying the sauce. White mayonnaise is so unforgiving!

3. Some restaurants have started serving chips in little pewter-effect buckets, with a piece of newspaper as lining. All very pretty, but totally impractical for the diner. At the start of the meal, tip the chips onto you plate, neatly, and place the discarded bucket to one side.

4. Chips, if eaten with sauce, can be a messy business – even if you are an experienced diner. Ketchup can get everywhere, especially the corners of your mouth. You should never begin to eat chips without a napkin to hand (preferably, on your lap). When it comes to removing the offending sauce, take the napkin, and dab the corners and then center of your mouth delicately (but not too effetely) – rather than scrub back and forth. It’s a napkin, not a flannel!

5. Vinegar is a common accompaniment with chips, although a rather antisocial one. Not everyone is partial to a whiff. If you wish to dose your chips with said seasoning, then ask fellows diners if they mind. In a lot of restaurants, however, vinegar is not offered (whereas ketchup, mayonnaise etc are). If it’s not offered: don’t ask for it! The same rule applies for anything. If your host or the waiter doesn’t proffer something, then forget about asking for it.

6. There's nothing nicer than other people's chips. Even if you have ordered your own portion, somehow, everyone else's will look more appetising than your own share. In that instance, it is rude to ask to have someone else's chips as you have your own. If you do not have any chips, however, you may be lucky and find someone offers. It is good manners to let the other person offer first. Avoid directly asking for some of their fries - instead, you could say, 'Gosh I haven't had chips in ages!' or 'Are the chips nice?' in the hope that they get the message.

How do you like your chips? Well, Just Eat have discovered that the nation like to eat their chips a little differently depending on where they come from.

Take a look at this chip map and see if your chip eating habits match that of your region!