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haha! I didn't realize other people did this. But I totally will eat around what I think is the "best" part so that's my last bite. In sandwiches it's usually the middle so I can get a layer of everything. Come to think of it, I like to make sure I have an equal amount of every ingredient in the last bite too.... say one lettuce leaf, one tomato, one cucumber for a salad.

When I was a kid, I used to pick the chocolate chips out of my granola bars and save them for last. Yes, I am a little weird. ;)

I do this all the time. I save the muffin tops for last (even if sometimes I'm too full by the time I get to it!), eat around sandwiches, pizza, salads so that the best bit is left for the end (usually with a bit of everything in it). I even strategically plan my last "bites" of meals to be my favourite part of a dish!

Absolutely I do this. Save the most perfect shrimp from my dinner, the crispiest, cheesiest bite of eggplant parm, and of course the chocolateyest part of dessert. I think it stemmed from the games we played as kids, where we'd save the fudgy top of a hostess cupcake, or make our own double-double stuffed oreos, or licking the ice cream around the edges of a ice cream sandwich til the cookies collapse on themselves...

That said, it probably wouldn't be the worst thing for my figure, to eat the best bites first. I think saving the best parts encourage me to eat every bite, whereas if I didn't have something to look forward to, I might put my meal down before I'm overstuffed. But I dunno.. leaving a meal with the memory of perfection is nice.

Oh and jamiealyse- your post makes me remember when I'd order bubblegum ice cream, spitting out the gumballs and saving them for after, grossing my mom out completely. But really.. who can chew gum and eat ice cream at the same time!

My partner always saves the best for last; a big blob of mozzarella from her pizza, a bite of pickle, etc. For me, every bite has to be even. If it's pizza, it's got to have cheese, sauce, and crust, up to the last bite. Same for a sandwich, same for cake and ice cream, etc. etc.

I try not to think about it all that much.

I do save the muffin tops for last - but that's also because they pull apart so easily. I love the moist top.

I dont save the best part for last, but I do need to have the majority of my food have equal parts of things. If I'm eating a salad, no matter how many ingredients there are, I have to have at least half my bites to have a little piece of each.
I'm one of those people that will put chips into their sandwiches to or fries in their burgers to get an even flavor. mmmm

cheflaura - My sisters did that also! I probably would too, if I ever ate bubblegum ice cream (bleh!). What an inconvenient combination...

I used to save the best bite for last (the point of the slice of pie, etc.) until I read somewhere that your taste buds are most 'acute' for the first three bites of anything and realized I was squandering those best bites on a full tummy. (I also totally agree with Chef Laura's second paragraph.)

So now I go best first, and sometimes those three best bites are sufficient.

the worst part is when i save the best for last, and somebody swoops in to have a taste of my meal and takes it :(

While hiking the entire Appalacian Trail, my husband ate his 'best' meal every night. He started off a long section carrying about ten meals, and ate whatever his 'favorite' was every night--because the next night he would be so hungry, something else would be the best meal! Then it would all start over when he reached the next town. I think this has to do with the scarcity idea...anyway, we've both pulled this out of the woods and onto the dinner table. But we do still eat dessert last. :)

Not so long ago, I still used to leave the best for last. I think this has to do with our culture of learning to finish your plate ...
I still have issues with this but now I try to start with the best, and not eat the rest ... this should help keep my weight under control too.

stefathena - that happens to me a lot too. Ill have a little something hanging out on my plate and someone figures i didnt want to eat it, but really i was saving it! one of these days someones going to get a fork through their hand and I wont feel bad for them!

if anyone is trying to watch their weight, that's probably a bad way to go. if you save the best for last, you're going to eat it even if you're full. if you eat the best first, the rest isn't as special and it'll be easier to push your plate away when it's time to stop.

but hey, I still throw caution to the wind and save the best for last now and then! (my favorite as a child was to eat away the cookie part around chocolate drop cookies and then have a great last bite with the whole drop!)

I agree adamwa! Trying to save that best thing for last just ensures that I'll never get to have it at all. Someone is sure to swipe it from me by then. You gotta get while the gettin's good! Sieze the opportunity!

same comment as stefathena et al... I can't stand when I've patiently saved the juciest part of a burger and my girlfriend suddenly realizes she hasn't tried a bite. C'mon! you gotta do bite-for-a-bite right when at the start.

For me, it depends. If saving the best bite for last means that it's gone cold or is melted or will be soggy, I eat it first. If it can stand the wait (and I know I'm eating the whole thing!), I definitely save the best bite for last. :)

Let me echo those who traditionally have saved the best bite for last. I have done this my whole life, but realized a few years ago that meant I was usually eating the entire serving, and that was not always a good idea :) I still don't eat the "best bite" first, but I don't save it for last either, so I tend to eat less.

I say why wait.. I eat the good stuff first, and then the good stuff of what is left.. etc etc..

After all... It's all good it's just the degree of the good..

It is most evident that I do this when eating sushi. When it comes to three pieces left, I spend time figuring out the best ending. I've totally been caught doing this.

To me it depends. Some foods just go together but in general I like to eat things individual. I do have to agree, eating your favorite part of each meal first does guarantee that you will be full by the time you reach your not-most-favorite part.

I believe we porky little plate cleaners are the ones who save the best for last and consequently eat everything on our plates. Our thinner sisters and brothers eat the best first and leave the rest. Just a wild-hair opinion with no foundation in fact.

haha! I do this constantly, and refer to it as 'last taste in mouth'... Husband knows to recognize when I've saved something for 'last taste in mouth' and knows better than to reach for it off my plate...

i'm so glad that i'm not the only one who does this!

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I heard about this in a book I read a couple of summers ago called "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink Ph.D.
He was talking about a study conducted where they found that people who savor their food and "save the best for last" tended to be first born children or people who grew up as an only child and that people who scraf their food or eat the best part first tend to be people who were born into larger families where they have many older siblings competing and grabbing for food. Pretty interesting.
It reminds me of another food habit study he talked about where men and women were asked what their idea of comfort foods are. Men typically said foods like lasagna, meatloaf, pot roast, and other hearty foods while women would say things like candy bars and ice cream and more off the shelf quick fix type of things. One theory that the researchers had was that men tended to find foods that involved a lot of work comforting because it reminded them of their mothers pampering them by making and serving the food to them where as women did NOT find that kind of food comforting at all because it meant a lot of work for THEM which is why women tended to find that the more effortless foods that you can just grab and eat where more comforting.

And to think I thought I was 'special' - seems like most of us do this! I always save the best 'till last, whether it's the chocolate flake from a 99, the frosting from a cupcake, or the roast potatoes from a Sunday lunch. it's GOT to be done.

I save the best for last. Often my husband will try and figure out which bite I'm saving, and he'll playfully steal it from my plate! :)

I don't know about thinner siblings, but younger ones do eat differently. I'm a saver...but my husband (with hordes of older brothers) is a quick, inhale it before someone steals/spits on/eats it first!