Don't cut spaghetti with a knife, learn to lattice your bacon and use a straw to slice strawberries: The 15 foods you've been eating all WRONG... and how to do it properly

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We've all struggled with chicken wings at barbecues and wondered if long strands of spaghetti should be twirled or cut when dining at an Italian .

If you've been peeling your banana from stem down, cooking your carrots or slicing your strawberries instead of hulling them, you have been doing it wrong.

And instead of throwing out the water after you've steamed your veggies, you should be making soup, one expert advises.

Whether you've struggled with peeling an orange, been confounded cupcakes or just wanted to eat chicken wings without looking like you've been taking part in a BBQ food fight, FEMAIL has found the best ways to get the job done. 

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Avoid getting cupcake frosting all over your face and fingers in five easy steps 

1. Cupcakes

We've all been there, devouring the frosting off the top of a cupcake in one big bite and having to then munch through the rest of the cupcake. 

The next time you're confronted with this dilemma, first remove the paper wrapper and then slice off the top of your cupcake.

Next, turn the top slice upside down so the frosting is now resting on the bottom layer of the cake.

You've now made yourself a cupcake sandwich which you can eat with ease without getting any messy icing on your fingers... or your face. 

Cupcake eating has never been easier: Remove the paper wrapping, cut your cake in half and turn it upside down to make it into a sandwich

2. Carrots

While most vegetables are best eaten raw, studies show that when carrots are cooked, their levels of beta carotene go up. 

Beta carotene is a carotenoid that the body converts to vitamin A. 

It's essential for the function of many systems in the body, from normal iron metabolism to vision to skin and immunity.

3. Ice cream

If you are serving ice-cream at a party, simply remove the ice-cream tub from the freezer and place it under hot water for 15 to 30 seconds. 

Then invert the container on a plate and cut the ice cream with a knife as you would do bread.

4. Pistachios

Grappling with the hard shells? Wedge the shell from another pistachio nut to easily crack it open.

5. Chicken wings

One of the messiest foods to eat, there's a nifty little trick you can use the next time you're at a BBQ. 

According to the clever people at Foodbeast, all you need to do to turn a hard-to-eat chicken wing into a nugget is remove the protruding cartilage from one of the wings. 

This makes the rest of the bones loose, which allows you to easily pull out the smaller bone on from the opposite end.

You'll need to do the same for the last bone and, voila, you'll now be left with just wing meat.

6. Asparagus

Never microwave this vegetable as this depletes its Vitamin C content.

Always steam or stir fry asparagus and make sure you do it quickly so that it's still crispy and crunchy, rather than soft. And don't throw out the water

'When steaming asparagus, save the leftover water,' dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot told Health.com.

'It's rich in vitamins and minerals. You can add it to a sauce or soup,' she continued. 

7. Pasta

Are you twirling your spaghetti on a spoon? You're doing it wrong. And forget about cutting it with a knife.

'Pasta is is eaten with a fork alone and never cut with a knife,' etiquette expert William Hanson told FEMAIL.

'The idea of using a spoon as well comes from the USA but is not practised in authentic Italian homes or upmarket British ones.

'When in Italy, never cut your pasta; doing so is considered an act of culinary terrorism and insult to the cook.'

Spaghetti can be a nightmare for diners. The one golden rule with pasta is to always twirl it around the tines of your fork (left) and  never to cut it (right)

8. Oranges

Struggling to peel oranges?  

This new method is the quickest and easiest way to to do it - and it only involves three slices of a knife.

Thanks to a 'life hack' video from YouTube user Rumble Viral, an orange is opened up in a matter of seconds, and with minimal juice-loss and squashed segments.

Firstly, you cut off the top and the bottom of the orange.

Next, you make a cut into the one side of the orange, until the knife reaches the fruit's centre.

Then, it's just a case of spreading the skin open to reveal all the intact and neat segments. Peel and enjoy!

Instead of peeling your oranges from the top (left) simply run a knife under the skin of the fruit (right)

9. Bacon sandwiches

More bread than bacon in your sandwich? The next time you have a hankering for crispy rashers, weave them together first before you put them under the grill or fry them in a pan. 

Latticing bacon may sound like a barmy idea but it ensures that the entire surface of your bread is covered in delicious bacon-y goodness 

Don't just grill your bacon and dump it on a slice of bread (left). Lattice rashers together to form a tight weave (right)  before you cook your pig to ensure the entire surface is covered 

10. Bananas

If you've been peeling your banana from the stem down, you're doing it wrong. 

Take a hint from our simian siblings and flip your fruit over, so you're now peeling from the bottom rather than from stem down. 

Give your banana a gentle squeeze right at the bottom of the peel and watch it pop open with ease. Enjoy.  

11. Shallots

Shallots are often thought of as fiddly to peel, but all you need to do is let them steep in boiling water for five to 10 minutes and the skins just slide right off.

'The heat of the water loosens the layers of shallot peel from the allium's surface,' Chef Paul Collins from Yeo Valley explains

12. Strawberries

The next time you're preparing strawberries for dessert, instead of slicing the tops off, which cause wastage, use this simple trick to hull them. 

Simply push a straw through the bottom of the berry all the way to the top; this way you'll be coring through the fruit which will leave you more berry to enjoy. 

And it's much better for you too as cutting strawberries causes the red berries to lose nutrients

Slicing off the tops of strawberries (left) causes the fruit to lose nutrients. Simply push a straw (right) through the berry to hull it 

13. Peas

Do not scoop these up with your fork, etiquette expert William Hanson advises.

'Good hosts will never serve peas at a formal dinner party,' he says 'but if you find yourself confronted by petit pois or the like resist the urge to turn your fork over and scoop.'

'Instead, use the tines of the fork to spear a collection and transfer to the mouth. If mashed potato has been served, or something similar, use that as a 'glue'.

Release me! Scooping is a no-no, spearing is really the only way to go with the peas

14. Kale

High in vitamin A and C and folate, kale should always be eaten raw to maximise its health benefits.

'A 90g raw serving counts a one of your five a day and will give you 108mcg folate, 99mg vitamin c, 117mg calcium; a significant contribution to your daily intakes of these nutrients and often higher levels than you would get from other greens,' Dietitian Helen Bond

Around a third of vitamin C can be lost in the cooking water if kale is boiled so use as little water as possible and cook for a short time.

 15. Apples 

The good folks at FoodBeast say that apple cores are a myth and that an entire apple can be eaten and enjoyed whole if you start from the bottom. 

Just make sure you wash your apples well and spit out the seeds.