How To Properly Eat A Wedge Salad

Once upon a time, wedge salad was all the rage. Eventually, however, its appeal began to taper. Though its plummet in popularity was likely the result of shifting food trends, wedge salad detesters might argue that its impracticality is to blame. Difficult to eat based on its composition, wedge salads can be perplexing, but that's no reason to avoid them. Instead of robbing yourself of the opportunity to dine on the stunning salad, it's worth learning how to properly eat one.

Exactly what it sounds like, a wedge salad consists of a quartered chunk of lettuce that's drizzled in dressing and topped with confetti-sized extras like crumbled bacon and chopped tomatoes. It's a feast for the eyes, but also the palate, given its range of flavors and textures. Yet, while this variety is what makes the salad so successful, it's also what makes it tricky to eat. Unlike other types of salads that can be simply speared with a fork, the carefully arranged wedge salad requires multiple utensils — and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

A wedge salad must be eaten bite by bite. After securing the lettuce with the tines of a fork in one hand, use a knife with the other to slice through the wedge, cutting a small portion from the tip closest to you. If it's well-coated in toppings, dig in. Otherwise, dab the lettuce into the dressing and layer on any toppings with your knife. Then, repeat with the rest of the salad.

Whether you find yourself at a fancy steakhouse or at a friend's house for dinner, knowing how to eat a wedge salad with decorum is a must. Not only will learning dining dos and don'ts improve your table manners, but it'll also enhance your enjoyment. Each forkful of perfectly portioned and seasoned lettuce will guarantee a pleasing mouthful in comparison to half-dressed forkfuls void of toppings. Additionally, mastering the art of properly eating a wedge salad even leads to easier and mess-free dining, which is especially helpful since the salads tend to be served on terribly tiny plates. 

Although the correct assembly of a wedge salad can make dining more manageable before you even lift your fork, not all salads boast evenly distributed dressing and petitely uniform toppings. Evidently, should you be faced with a wedge that boasts cumbersome toppings, refrain from chopping everything all at once and instead slice as you go, bite by bite. That said, cutting too-large components down is also a great tip for dealing with unwieldy tossed or chopped salads. After all, nothing is less polite than shoving huge chunks of tomatoes or lettuce leaves into your mouth!

From wedges of iceberg lettuce to quarters of Napa cabbage and halves of romaine hearts, the trick to eating any wedge salad is simple — always use both a fork and knife, slicing and arranging each forkful as you go!