The meal you ate in ten minutes took someone two hours. Sit there an extra five and say something nice.

Cooking and eating run on wildly different clocks. Two hours of shopping, chopping and standing over a pan gets consumed in the time it takes to look at a phone twice, and the cook is left clearing up while everyone scatters. The mismatch is nobody’s fault, but it means the appreciation has to be deliberate, because the timing will not supply it.

Stay at the table five minutes after you finish, and say one specific thing about the food. Then pick up plates without being asked. If you want to go further, ask to be taught one thing from the meal, the compliment cooks actually remember.