Forks and White Flakes

The white flakes are dust particles. Director Crowley liked the way it looked.
Can't help you with the second question except to say I've seen it, often do it myself.are

From what I can tell using a fork the way you describe is a mostly European, and I suppose Ireland, thing. In a way it is actually more effective to use it that way to pick up food.

A similar thing is a right-handed person holding their fork in their left hand to hold meat while cutting it with a knife in the right hand, then switching hands so the fork is in the right hand to pick up the meat. Better is to just eat with the fork in the left hand to avoid switching every time you cut off another piece of meat.

..*.. TxMike ..*..

Holding your fork in your left hand with the tines pointing down (and your knife in your right hand) was the proper way to eat in cultured society. At the time, many young unmarried urban women wanted to be perceived as cultured and sophisticated so they could attract an equally cultured and educated (high-salaried) man.

When I was a little boy going to school in England in the 1970's, we were trained to eat this way. If we didn't, the matrons roaming the cafeteria would smack our little knuckles with their rulers. It hurt. But when my family later immigrated to Boston, the school kids teased me so much I stopped doing it when at school.