餐桌礼仪：怎样吃面包

餐桌礼仪：怎样吃面包
陈豪昨天晚上陪一位总裁去到会晚宴，但是他还有个问题不太清楚。为此他想讨教一下美籍华人Mary，所以，他约她今晚一同去美国饭馆吃晚饭。

(Restaurant ambience)

M：嗨，陈豪，how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?

C：你告知过我怎样喝汤，各种刀叉的用法。但是，It may sound silly，昨夜我发现我不太清楚该怎样吃面包。美国人好象跟咱们的吃法不一样。

M：别着急。你看服务员给咱们送面包来了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate.

C：面包放在面包和黄油的盘上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?

M：It's the one on your left above the forks。

C：噢，便是这个。

M：Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle. 你就记住德国的名牌轿车BMW就行了。

C：What has BMW to do with eating bread?

M：B代表bread, 在左面， M代表meat, 在中心，W代表water，在右边。

C：BMW!

******

C：Mary，你还没有告知我终究该怎样吃面包呐。咱们中国人都是一口一口咬的，但是美国人好象是用手掰的。

M：Yes, I noticed that too. 我给你演示一下。Tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it. Then tear off another piece and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing。

C：That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 现在你证明了，我今后就没问题了。

M：So everything is clear? 没问题了吧？

C：等等，我还有一个问题。昨夜的面包很松，面包渣许多。我是不是应该把面包盘放到我面前。这样面包渣就不会撒在桌上。

M：No, the bread plate remains in its place. Just break the bread and butter it over the plate and let the crumbs fall where they may.

C：噢，面包盘是不能搬动的，一向放在左上方。然后掰面包，涂黄油都在盘上面。So the bread crumbs would fall into the bread plate。

M：That's right. Now, let me sum up the main points: bread goes on your bread and butter plate which is on your left above the forks; to eat bread, don't bite, but tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing.