How to sip soup in your own country is obvious. When you go on a trip to another country, or even another country's restaurant, not so obvious.
A Singaporean friend wrote to me:
Since you probably learned etiquette when you were a child, it comes to you naturally. You may not be fully aware of the issues faced by people (like me) who did not grow up in the same environment and do not know even the basics, such as how to drink soup from a plate - I usually drink soup from a bowl.
So, here are some guidelines for the benefit of my Singaporean friends, and anybody else who needs to know, or wants to know, or wants to know what to explain to children and adults from their own or other cultures.
UK
The special spoon for soup is called a soup spoon. Usually the handle is the same length as a dessert spoon. The difference is that a soup spoon has a rounded bowl, whilst a dessert spoon's concave area is more like an oval, slightly tapered.
The round concave part of the soup spoon is too large to go into your mouth, so obviously you will be scooping up the soup and sipping it from the side of the spoon.
The soup spoon handle is held in your right hand.
What about the soup bowl and scooping up the soup?
Whilst you have plenty of soup in the soup plate's central bowl area, you can draw a slightly tilted spoon through the soup towards yourself.
When you are coming to the end of your soup, to low for scooping, you can tip the plate. If you tipped the plate towards yourself, you risk tipping soup into your lap. (Also, I have just thought, it is easier for your eyes to focus intermittently on your dinner companion and the far side of the plate, than tire your eyes and ignore your companion by looking straight down.)
So you tip up your soup plate, very slowly an gently, until you can get some of the remaining soup into the soup spoon.
When you have finished, you leave the soup spoon in the bowl. Do not put it on the tablecloth because that leaves nasty stains during the meal as well as costing the tablecloth's owner time and money to remove the stain.
A large container for soup to be served to you and other diners is called a tureen.
Styles Of Soup Plate
A traditional soup plate is similar in size to a dinner plate and has an almost flat lip all the way around. What is the purpose of the lip? For the person setting the table to place the plate on the table without touching the bowl containing your food.
The soup plate lip should catch any drip from your spoon as you raise the soup to your lips.
The lip, held securely in both hands, ensures that the plate bowl is untouched when the waiter removes the plate so their hand remains clean, or their gloves if they are wearing gloves. The remaining soup contents are not tipped out when removing the soup plate.
If you are running an event at which staff are serving soup, show them the shapes of the soup spoon. I was in an Italian restaurant in Edgware and asked for a soup spoon because I had been given only a knife and fork and dessert spoon.
The girl serving gave me another dessert spoon. When I pointed out that she had given me a dessert spoon, she was surprised. Her country in Eastern Europe did not have soup spoons.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
A Singaporean friend wrote to me:
Since you probably learned etiquette when you were a child, it comes to you naturally. You may not be fully aware of the issues faced by people (like me) who did not grow up in the same environment and do not know even the basics, such as how to drink soup from a plate - I usually drink soup from a bowl.
So, here are some guidelines for the benefit of my Singaporean friends, and anybody else who needs to know, or wants to know, or wants to know what to explain to children and adults from their own or other cultures.
UK
The special spoon for soup is called a soup spoon. Usually the handle is the same length as a dessert spoon. The difference is that a soup spoon has a rounded bowl, whilst a dessert spoon's concave area is more like an oval, slightly tapered.
The round concave part of the soup spoon is too large to go into your mouth, so obviously you will be scooping up the soup and sipping it from the side of the spoon.
The soup spoon handle is held in your right hand.
What about the soup bowl and scooping up the soup?
Whilst you have plenty of soup in the soup plate's central bowl area, you can draw a slightly tilted spoon through the soup towards yourself.
When you are coming to the end of your soup, to low for scooping, you can tip the plate. If you tipped the plate towards yourself, you risk tipping soup into your lap. (Also, I have just thought, it is easier for your eyes to focus intermittently on your dinner companion and the far side of the plate, than tire your eyes and ignore your companion by looking straight down.)
So you tip up your soup plate, very slowly an gently, until you can get some of the remaining soup into the soup spoon.
When you have finished, you leave the soup spoon in the bowl. Do not put it on the tablecloth because that leaves nasty stains during the meal as well as costing the tablecloth's owner time and money to remove the stain.
A large container for soup to be served to you and other diners is called a tureen.
Styles Of Soup Plate
A traditional soup plate is similar in size to a dinner plate and has an almost flat lip all the way around. What is the purpose of the lip? For the person setting the table to place the plate on the table without touching the bowl containing your food.
The soup plate lip should catch any drip from your spoon as you raise the soup to your lips.
The lip, held securely in both hands, ensures that the plate bowl is untouched when the waiter removes the plate so their hand remains clean, or their gloves if they are wearing gloves. The remaining soup contents are not tipped out when removing the soup plate.
If you are running an event at which staff are serving soup, show them the shapes of the soup spoon. I was in an Italian restaurant in Edgware and asked for a soup spoon because I had been given only a knife and fork and dessert spoon.
The girl serving gave me another dessert spoon. When I pointed out that she had given me a dessert spoon, she was surprised. Her country in Eastern Europe did not have soup spoons.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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