Kansiime Doreen, a food lover and etiquette coach, while being hosted on The Groove Cafe by Crystal Newman commented on how dining etiquette works hand in hand with good morals.
Explaining how one may have good etiquette and terrible manners, she cited an example of how one may know how to hold a spoon and yet treat those around them badly. “I’d define manners as a set of guidelines that help us in our everyday lives from personal, social to business. Something that empowers us with soft skills to be mindful of ourselves and in other words, kindness and respect, while etiquette is a smaller set of do’s and don'ts.”
As part of her experience, Kansiime says a lot of people think that having dining etiquette is fancy and pride that are associated with a certain class of people or caucasians. She totally dismissed this as a wrong perception.
“Does this mean one has to first travel to Europe to know that it's wrong to talk with food in your mouth? We need to start appreciating the basics of etiquette and manners because it's not fancy, it's just proper living and interacting with others. It makes you and the people around you comfortable.”
She continued “For instance, crisscrossing hands on the table leads to spills or breakages of glass. Etiquette and manners are not fancy or foreign but it is so easy to go through life with good manners. Social skills and behavior enable you to have confidence around anyone because in say an instance during a dinner, instead of concentrating on the conversation, you'll probably be wondering what fork to use and which will take away your confidence.”
Being the first born child in her family, Kansiime believes that her mother had a strong impact on her passion for food and cooking, leading her to pursue dining etiquette.
Kansiime said, “There are some things about my mother that I look back and appreciate her for. One of them was never talking while eating. I never understood it till now after I got to appreciate that it was part of etiquette and manners.”
After moving in with her fiance at campus, as a food lover, Kansiime narrated that she often tried to cook new cuisines and due to her eagerness to experience more about cooking, she started dining out.
“As a young girl, I wanted to explore and experiment with different dishes, so my love for cooking grew stronger and I became more inquisitive. I would go to a hotel to order something and later try making it from home. So dining out opened my eyes to the world of etiquette,” she commented.
From wanting to understand table arrangement, presentation of food and organization of cutlery, the coach says she was drawn into fine dining that introduced her to dining etiquette.
Doreen Kansiime is a mother of three boys, passionate about good food, dining and manners. She has a certificate in dining etiquette from the British School Of Etiquette.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5pm on RX Radio.
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