Is it just boys who are messy eaters?

[FrenchForumSurvivor]

99% of the time, no matter what meal we eat together as a couple, my plate is always much messier than my wife's at the end of the meal. True, at school there was always bread on the table to wipe up the mess before the rest went into the scraps bucket and there isn't bread with the meal now, but she never went to boarding school and nevertheless manages to leave her plate, if not spotless, a damn sight cleaner than mine.

[Aardvark]

Does she lick the plate? Do you have a dog?

[FrenchForumSurvivor]

No and no.

[Flaneur]

99% of the time, no matter what meal we eat together as a couple, my plate is always much messier than my wife's at the end of the meal. True, at school there was always bread on the table to wipe up the mess before the rest went into the scraps bucket and there isn't bread with the meal now, but she never went to boarding school and nevertheless manages to leave her plate, if not spotless, a damn sight cleaner than mine.

No, it's just you two

I am generally a much less messy eater than my wife, both as regards plate and spillages.

Mind you, Timmy will often transfer his food from his bowl to his tray, and then onto the floor. So we're 50/50 here.

[Stompie]

Nope. In this house it's me who always spills.
I'm also responsible for 99% of crockery breakages. But that may be partly because I do 99% of the cooking/serving/washing up.

[suein56]

99% of the time, no matter what meal we eat together as a couple, my plate is always much messier than my wife's at the end of the meal. True, at school there was always bread on the table to wipe up the mess before the rest went into the scraps bucket and there isn't bread with the meal now, but she never went to boarding school and nevertheless manages to leave her plate, if not spotless, a damn sight cleaner than mine.

IIRC your wife is French ?
Without a doubt all the French people I know are impeccably tidy eaters .. every meal OH and I share with French friends/neighbours .. or even in a resto diners at an adjacent table .. eat their food daintily.
And leave their plates immaculately clean.
It's a gift they have or have acquired.

[FrenchForumSurvivor]

Yes, she is French, and I think that you may be right about a gift they have acquired, perhaps it comes from the cantine?

[suein56]

Yes, she is French, and I think that you may be right about a gift they have acquired, perhaps it comes from the cantine?

I thought that too ..

[Annabelle's Papa]

Yes, she is French, and I think that you may be right about a gift they have acquired, perhaps it comes from the cantine?

I thought that too ..

Our daughter (now 13) did three years in French village school from when she was 3 and a half, her table manners are impeccable , her best friend came to dinner with us before 'lockdown', she is a very charming and attractive girl but her plate, place mat, her face and clothes were splattered with food by the time she had finished, never seen any thing like it.

One thing my daughter does and I don't know where she gets it from, is she eats her way around the plate, meaning she eats the contents of the plate in order of non-preference, e.g veg first, meat second and chips (her favourite last), she doesn't like her food mixed, e.g pasta and sauce separate, she has to try any sauce before having it on her plate even gravy.

[Mrs Archy]

No, but then neither of us are particularly messy. My French neighbours clear their plates but what I really dislike is that some of the men will use their knife point to pick out the food stuck in their teeth and they will talk whilst eating showing bits of food everywhere even at fetes on a table of many people.