Occidental tableware mainly consists of the dishes, glassware, and cutleries (knives, forks, spoons, and so on) used to set a table for having a dinner. The nature, variety, and number of items may differ from meal to meal. The arrangement of a complete set of all the things that one person might use is called a place setting. Usually in Occidental culture, that means that the forks, bread plate, spreader, and napkin are on the left side, while knives, spoons, drinkware, cups, and saucers are on the right side, although the left-right order is reversed in a small number of countries. Utensils are placed about one inch from the edge of the table and put in a straight row. Utensils on the outmost place are used first. The glasses are put about an inch from the knives. They are used in the following order: white wine, red wine, dessert wine, and water goblet.
■Knives and Forks
Knife and fork are the major tableware in the Occidental world. Table knives are typically of medium sharpness only, which is designed to cut only prepared and cooked food. They are usually made of stainless steel and may be well-decorated, often having handles of bone, wood or (less commonly now) ivory. A fork is a tool including a handle with several narrow tines (usually two, three or four) on one end. The fork, as a dining utensil, has been typically used in the Occident, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more widespread. Tables are often arranged with two or more forks and knives, intended to be used for different courses.
Knife and fork etiquette in Occidental social life takes two primary forms. The style employed mostly in the United States of America, which is sometimes called the zigzag method or American style, is different from the European style (sometimes known as the continental style) which is very influential in the rest of the Occidental world including Europe and British Commonwealth countries. So you can choose appropriate one from the following two styles depending on the situation where you are.