Learn and Know the following

BUTTER

To butter breads, rolls, biscuits or toast, use a knife and small pieces of butter on small pieces of bread. Do not butter vegetables, because it's an insult to the cook.

CONDIMENTS

Horseradish, mint jelly, currant jelly, mustard, apple butter and cranberry sauce are spooned onto your plate next to the meat or fowl. You incorporate them onto your fork with a bit of the meat or fowl.

Liquid sauces, such as mint, cherry sauce or apricot duck sauce, are to be poured judiciously right onto the meat. A small amount is preferable, so that you don't overwhelm the taste of the meat.

Jellies, jams and conserves for rolls and biscuits are to be spooned onto the side of your butter plate and spread on small pieces of the bread or roll with a knife. If a spoon isn't available for serving, wipe your knife on the edge of the plate before touching the jelly in the serving jar or bowl.

For curried dishes, such condiments as peanuts, coconut and chutney can be spooned onto your plate and mixed in with the curry. Chutney may also be eaten unmixed, as an accompaniment.

GARNISHES

When garnishes — celery, olives, radishes etc. — are passed to you on a tray, use the serving spoon (if one is provided) to place a portion on your butter plate. If there is no butter plate, use your main dish. Never put the garnishes directly into your mouth. If you want to salt them, shake some salt onto the plate next to them and, using your fingers, dip and eat. Olives are taken whole into the mouth, and pits are removed into a tightly cupped fist and put on your butter plate.

Pickles are eaten with your fingers when they accompany a sandwich. When served with meat, they are eaten with a knife and fork.

Dill, parsley and watercress are eaten with a fork as part of the meal. They may be eaten with fingers — but never when they are covered with salad dressing or sauce.

Thin lemon slices are decoration; lemon wedges or halves are meant to be squeezed. Gently pierce the pulp of the larger pieces with a fork, and squeeze the segment over the food to be seasoned with one squirting. (Some restaurants cover lemon halves with cheesecloth in order to avoid stray squirts.)

GRAVY

A light touch is the key. Gravy or sauce should never be poured or ladled onto everything on your plate at random; rather, it should be used sparingly, and exclusively on the dish for which it was intended. If you wish to soak up the extra gravy (and it's a compliment to the cook to do so), put a small piece of bread into the sauce and retrieve it with your fork — tines down, and one small piece of bread at a time

HONEY

To handle honey gracefully, all you need to do is twist it onto a spoon — the thinner the honey, the more rapid the motion — and then drop it onto your butter plate.

SALT AND PEPPER

Add salt and pepper only after you taste the food. It is an insult to the cook to add either beforehand. If there is a saltcellar (a small open bowl of salt), use the spoon that's in it; if there isn't a spoon, use the tip of a clean knife.

Anything to be dipped in salt should be put on your butter plate or on the edge of your dinner plate. If you are provided with an individual saltcellar, you can take a pinch with your fingers.