"Breaking the ICE: The Rude Dining Habit You Need to Stop"

Invidious comparison eating (ICE) is a passive-aggressive dining habit where someone indirectly asserts that the dish they're consuming is inferior by listing the "superior" merits of another version, usually their own. This behavior has been recorded for hundreds of years and is often used by the wealthy to establish their superiority. ICE can be particularly offensive when it happens in a domestic setting, right in front of the home cook. Dealing with ICE can be challenging, but etiquette experts suggest addressing it politely yet directly or ignoring it completely, depending on the relationship with the person.