 Yes, we're later than usual on the poll today. For one, I actually (gasp!) left my desk for lunch today in order to record a podcast for our new series (more on that soon). Actually, though, I'm attributing it more to having signed up for the 10:30 seating of chefs Eddie Huang and Tyler Kord's Chinese New Year dinner at No. 7 restaurant in Brooklyn last night. Diners lucky enough to score a reservation (rumor had it that Jimmy Fallon's party couldn't nab an 8 p.m. table and had to abandon mission) clustered around a communal table, daintily spooning and spearing family-style cold sesame noodles, sausage dumplings and pickles onto their square white plates. Chopsticks picked up pace, clattering as bowls of bitter butter greens, a soy-drizzled whole Dorade and obscenely silken tofu topped with century-old egg hit the table. By the time the fat-swaddled pork shoulder and eight-treasure (1. lotus seeds, 2. edamame, 3. smoked ham, 4. mushrooms and...did I mention there was also wine?...) glutinous rice-stuffed duck arrived, decorum had flapped out the window. Then again, I love to eat with my hands. Yes, I can and do sit like a proper lady in front of people, holding utensils and dabbing and daubing just so. I would never choose to do that if I didn't have to. I'm not a savage - not in public at least. I gauge the room, the comfort level of my companions, and might hazard a pinch of bread, then a round, roasted potato, perhaps a shard of ham ferried to my mouth between thumb and forefinger. If no one seems to mind, and I'm among friends, I may even abandon utensils entirely, save for that which needs spooning. I swear I'm not unseemly about it. A friend who dreams of penning etiquette books, should she ever find the time, once announced to all and sundry that I could eat entire meal with my hands and make it seem like the most elegant thing in the world. I do take other people's comfort levels into account, and in that spirit, ensured it would never be held against me when it counted most - at home. On the website through which I met my husband, one line item read, "Fill in the blank. ______ is sexy. ______ is sexier." It would seem he was undaunted by a woman who felt that eating with her hands was sexier than just plain old "eating." Still, I'm glad he wasn't there last night to see me wrench the head off that Shanghai duck with my bare fingers and suck meat from its bulging cheeks into mine. That would just be unladylike. |
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Is there a name for people who choose to eat with their hands and not utensils? I eat with my hands primarily and a friend said she thought there was a name for it. I can't find anything. Anyone else? If it's in the comments, I apologize, I haven't read them all.
I eat with my hands all the time, and see nothing wrong with it so long as it is done in a polite and well mannered way. No one likes to see anyone inhaling food, chewing with their mouth open, and generally being disgusting with or without a fork.
For all of you who say eating with your hands is bad....screw you! I lost my hands in a tragic eating accident when I was a kid. I still yearn to pick up a sandwich or slice of pizza with my hands and gobble away. Luckily for me, the doctor who replaced my missing hands gave me a knife and fork (one on each nub) so that I could still eat. Makes typing hard. I started this comment yesterday!
I prefer a knife and fork for the most part, except obviously for something like a burget or a sandwich that is intended to be picked up. I have a hard time though with someone who has to ask why I use a fork on something like french fries or bacon or sausage. As far as I am concerned, I don't care if companions use their hands, their fork or their feet. Just do your thing and I'll do mine.
I'll just sit there in my wool jockstrap and do my thing.
Who the hack cared whether I ate foods with my bare hands, globed on hands, forks, knifes, chopsticks, or..even with using my toes!! Are we still, if not egocentric, living in our self nobility, wrongfully thinking that we'd become an inch more dignified, or be portrayed better civilized than some other cutures that encourage them to eat with their hands?
This is that difference of cultural mindset that makes people still thinking this article, to begin with, worthy to be a debatable issue.. Liveing modern world, people already know it's okay to eat with their bare hands depending upon the kinds of foods people wish to have thme with.. If you buy this notion that eating with bare hands can be anypeculiar look, or act to begin with, is Western civilization cultural mindset.. There's nothing barbaric about eating foods with bare hands, as my ancestors made Kim Chi with bare hands, and ther're many Kroean dishes you can eat with bare hands and nobody should stare at you oddly.. So what do you think of using chopsticks.. Does it look less normal than eating with forks and spoons??
And I won't eat every foods with bare hands since – depending on varieties of foods- it would be less sanitary..But let alone sanitation and convenience aspects, about the way people think what's so peculiar and extraordinary, I'd finish by being reminded of this proverb of a saint: What's inside you (your mind) make things dirty. The outside isn't!! (Jesus..)
Oh PLEASE don't paint that kind of sweeping brush stroke to paint a picture of Western culture. Of course there are some in ANY culture, even yours, who feel their way is the only way. That doesn't mean they are correct! It's just their opinion (which is what these blogs are all about: opinions).
I can say with a straight face that there are MANY facets to American culture. This blog only touches one.
All Americans, who have two hands to use, eat SOMETHING with their bare hands – whether they'll admit to it or not.
I went on a date once with a man about 6 years older than me...we went to a sushi place...he ate with his hands, getting them all in the soy sauce. I was mortified. If we had been in a park or something, it'd been different, but really? In a decent restaurant!? Needless to say it was our only date...
Would you rather he had used chopsticks poorly and accidentally flicked a chunk of sushi roll in your lap? I hope there was more to your repulsion of him than what you wrote.
I have to eat sushi with my pingies, too. Otherwise I could flick a spicy conch roll in your eye!!!!
Dear Author-It seems as though you have been hobnobbing with the limp-wristed, linen tablecloth set far too long and it has worn off on you.
Did you not read this part by the author? "Then again, I love to eat with my hands." Jeeze.
I love all the ridiculous comments from "guys" who "love to watch a woman get messy with a piece of meat" or "suck out the marrow." Self-impressing, much?
Here in the real world it really doesn't matter, does it? I use a napkin in a restaurant, I eat pizza by hand with my family and friends, and I gut and fire my own fish when camping. What part of ANY of that tells you anything about me as a person? Squat, really.
What's the big fuss? Using hands are natural. Wash your hands before and after a meal. Also, wash your mouth after a meal. That way, you don't even need a 'once in 6 months" dentist appointment either. For someone who said, it's easy to eat pasta with a fork and not with your hands, it's just a matter of practice. If one is used to eating with hands, you can eat anything, and I mean anything with your hands.
I remember visiting my friend's grandma's house for dinner when we were in second grade. They were very Italian (so strange to an Irish girl like me) and many grabbed the delicious veal off the platter with their fingers. My friend did too, and her mother fussed at her, but her grandma defended her with "Rosa, she has fingers, so she eats!" Took me so long to appreciate her grandma's ways, but I wish I had it to do all over again – but she scared me as a child ( I ate as much as I could, and she said "Whats the matter, you no like the veal?" I had never tasted veal in my life! Since then, I have visited Italy and learned to celebrate the joys of life and eating. Grazie to the DiMattias!
love my hog brains. makes a good sandwich. or rabbit brains . use be my number one dinner.
i thought ever one eat with there fingers? im from ky we eat the fastest way of craming it in. spoon dont hold enuff so i cram it in with my dirty fingers.mmmmmmmmmmmm good that way
It all depends on what the food is ... I don't do spaghetti, for instance, with my fingers or hands.
I do corn on the cob ... olives, pickles, hamburger in a bun, ribs always with finger lickin' yummy, pizza folded, fried egg with sliced onion on WonderBread is favorite finger food, as is lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, crab legs.
Asparagus is/are a finger food, too, btw. Oh, and I love fresh raw peas right out of the shell ... popcorn, too, is delicious finger food, especially with lots of butter!!
Remember, too, hand rolls are great for fingers ... feels like an ice cream cone. Hmmmm.
Ice cream sandwiches are fun. Don't forget apples, pears, bananas, grapes - all of those - including watermelon!!! Oh yeah!
Ummmm...EVERYONE eats with their hands..now eating with fingers...much of the world does eat with fingers, mostly restricted to the right hand. It is most definitely an art.
Any true foodie knows that a green salad tastes much better when eaten with fingers.
Really!? I'll have to try that next time I'm at Outback.
Eating with your hands should be more universally accepted. After all, it keeps those who text at the table down to a minimum.
When eating in the Philippines with my friends we always eat "kamayan" or with our hands as it the tradition in the country. There is actually a technique involved. I just love experiencing a different culture with different traditions. I could do with out the cold water showers however.
This system needs an edit function for the poster. I like to correct mistakes I made
Only eat with my left hand. I use my right hand to whip my behind with so beware of people who use both hands.
After living for 18 years in the U.S.,my firm conviction is that the vast majority of the natives have not the slightest idea how to use a knife and a fork. And I mean vast majority.But you are unbeatable in eating a Big Mac...just look at president Obama and the Russian president Medvedev eating in a fast food restaurant.
I am Indian. I eat with my hands all the time. Of course, I wash my hands before and after! There's nothing wrong with using hands :)
based on the poll about 2% of the population have some very serious anal retention going in with their eating habits.
@jft We've become so hygenic that we're losing our immunity to germs.
THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!!!
There's only one way to eat fried seafood and that's with your fingers.
fingers are made for picking things up and holding them, so that means food and utencils :) yay for everyone!!!
Wow, people have been using utensils for millenia, and now, in 2011, people want to glom into things using their hands. No wonder there are e-coli outbreaks – it probably isn't bad meat at all, but people shoveling in their food like cavemen. No matter how much you wash your hands, they are teeming with bacteria. Ugh.
"Ya gotta eat a peck of dirt before you die." Means you have to let SOME germs in or you'll never develop the immune system nature intended.
Enjoy your sterility!
only Asians think its acceptible and clean to eat with their hands
I believe a third of humanity eats with Chopsticks, another third with silverware and remaining third with hands. There is pleasure and satisfaction in each one of them. Food is the central element of eating process, means of conveying to the mouth should not adulterate the food negatively or cause harmful effects.
I believe 2/3 of your statistics were pulled from Uranus.
Why wouldn't one eat with their hands...I get why we use utensils because it makes cutting and proportion size a bit more convenient, but beyond that their is no real purpose when placing food in ones mouth.
Purpose? I prefer using a spoon for soup 'til it's cool enough to drink from the bowl. :))))))))))
According to Hinduism, when you eat, all five fingers must touch your mouth, for maximum health and absorption. Also when before you eat with your hands, you must offer that food to ancestors using your hands.
"My hand is the Lord. Boundlessly blissful is my hand. This hand holds all healing secrets. Which make whole with its gentle touch." – Rig Veda.
There are some foods which are just meant to be eaten with hands and they taste better too. fried chicken, chicken wings, indian food, pb&j, eating with utelsils is fine and i do that, but i think when food is on the plate, it is ready to be eaten – not have to cut a particular wat with utelsils to be eaten
Finger lickin good was used in my household as long as I can remember ( in my 40s now ). If it was up to me I would use my fingers to eat anything even slurpy soup, emmm maybe not.
The most natural way to enjoy great food is fingeling it. I once used it in an upsacale Indian restaurant, shamelessly another guy joined in until his wife sttttared him down.
Go fingers go.
I never eat with my hands. I only eat with my mouth. Mork drank with his.
MINS – the etc part of your restriction and the foremost is that you may not use your left hand or the hand that you engage in washing your bottom.
Eating with your hands is fine for a lot of foods (fries, asparagus spears), but you can still keep your mouth closed while you chew, and swallow before you talk.
Ugh! Would you call my mother and explain that to her!? She thinks that if she has something to say, she needs to say it whether she has food in her mouth or not! I've finally resorted to asking her to swallow and say it again! Eeesh!
I have lived in N. Europe for several years now, and if you've ever visited, you may have noticed that the people here eat burgers, even other kinds of sandwiches, french fries and pizza with a knives and forks. Well, I'm a "barbaric" American through and through, and so I inevitably get some looks when I actually pick up my food in a restaurant. It just feels unnatural to use utensils with some kinds of foods, though I do try to be dainty/discreet about it. You *can* eat properly with your hands, Europe. Don't hate. :)
Please don't lick your fingers cave person.
To kev........I agree..........that is disgusting. I suppose those who eat with their fingers also put their face in the plate.
In the civilized world, people learn to eat politely with a knife and fork, and a napkin. What a shame that those who do are now viewed as being snobbish and uppity.
Who died and made you the leader of the "civilized" world? I love eating out with people like you-I do my best to sneak in as many food hand grabs as possible.
"Do you eat with your hands?"
No, I eat with my feet.
I'm SO glad you caught that!!! GUFFAW!!!!
WHAT'S REALLY FUN is eating new-born rats; they serve you in Asia. They're so cute just like tiny pink baby's. You can feel them squirm as you crush there skulls between your teeth. Mmmm that's good eating.
I have always used my hands to eat things that most people would use a fork or spoon for. While I was growing up it drove my mother crazy! In addition to what has already been mentioned above, I also use my hands to eat sushi. I don't even want to know how to use chopsticks! When I eat out and get a salad where they serve the dressing on the side, I like to use my hands to dip the lettuce into the dressing. I never thought anything about it until one night I was eating with my aunt and uncle and my uncle said he had never seen anyone eat a salad with their hands before! I guess it's mainly because I like a lot of dressing on my salad and dipping it allows me to get just the right amount.
I grew up eating with my hands. I'll even eat rice my hands. It's my comfort zone.
I love eating with my hands - at home, with family or friends. But I have a sort of minimum size for food that can be hand-eaten. I've tried to eat curries, rice and raitas Indian-style (with Indian friends), but I have never been able to get over my aversion to handling wet, sticky, small stuff with my fingers. The whole thing makes me uneasy. I guess you have to grow up doing that.
My husband eats pizza with a fork!
Are all eatocracy commentators so egotistical to always use the first person, name drop and continually bellybutton stare?
Before you got here, yes, but you're obviously a different breed altogether. Oh Thank Gawd! Please, post copiosuly and often, to keep things balanced.
The question asks, "Do YOU ..... ?" So, yes, this one WILL be mostly in the first person. Maybe you should put together a poll that would interest you.
I spent a couple of months in Thailand and Cambodia recently. Everybody eats hands \- no big deal.
Whenever I see someone eating BBQ ribs with a knife and fork, I want to smack some sense into them.
I'd want to do that with anyone eating tacos with a knife and fork!
Remember Jennifer Beal eating the lobster at the fancy resturant in FlashDance? I'm a hetero female and even I thought it was sexy!
I wash my hands with soap for a few minutes before eating so if a food is typically eaten with hands, such as a sandwich or pizza slice, my hands are washed and clean. I avoid eating foods in common areas at parties or social gatherings where bowls of popcorn, nuts, chips, or other snacks are sitting around for everyone to dig their hands in. Germs are easily spread there!
And germs are rarely harmful.
How's this, I eat finger foods (hors d'ouvres, crudites, chips, crackers, fresh fruit) with my hands. I will pick up pizza and sandwiches with my hands, of course. Tacos, too, and wraps. Raisins. Cookies. Peanuts, popcorn. Muffins, toast, breadsticks. Corn on the cob. Hard boiled or deviled egg. Sushi if I don't have chopsticks. Fried chicken – sure. Soup? Not so much. Actually anything with a messy, gooey sauce is more likely to be fork food. But c'mon, who eats an ice cream cone with a spoon? At home when we had T-bone steaks we might pick up the bone and chew off the pieces that knife and fork couldn't get, but we never did this when we went to a restaurant. So the distinction is partly food item and partly venue.
If it was 60 years ago in my hometown, eating with spoons will be considered unhygenic. Hands you wash before and after eating. There is a whole etiquette about eating with hands that kids get trained from the day they start eating solids. And sometimes food just tastes better when I eat with hand.
Eating with your hands is totally acceptable. There is no written law or rule that enforces one to eat in a particular way. Cultures are all different & depending too on your upbringing will determine your level of comfort while doing so. So eat the way you want to eat! Others unaware of cultural or personal differences that you find staring while you indulge into those juicy ribs or chicken wings could just mean they are in awe & are learning something new for themselves. This is the beauty of living in countries comprised of different cultures. You learn something new everyday.
Though, this guy learned it the hard way. But nonetheless, at least a voice was heard.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CTVNewsAt11/20060505/food_fight_060505/
food tends to taste better when using my hands, it might not look classy, and I'm sure I'm not going to do it while in a fancy restaurant, but next time, when you’re at home having dinner and you find yourself surrounded by those that love you just the way you are, indulge yourself and take that chicken in your hands, will be the best piece ever!
although I don't eat that but I completely agree with you.
Eating with one's hands is commonplace in regions of the world such as Africa, Asia and South America. I come from a South Asian country myself and the only time we use utensils when eating our traditional cuisine is when we are serving it onto our plates. This is not at all a "savage" way to eat by any means as I bet I can eat a plate of rice more neatly with one hand than many can with utensils. Cultural differences make a big difference when addressing this question and many of the cultures that do eat with their hands are just as sophisticated as western cultures. Although, eating with one's hands isn't without restrictions. For example, food should never touch your palms or above the second knuckle etc.
agreed. I love a good banana leaf lunch and I can eat it neatly, rasam rice and all, with my hand...as it should be eaten. how would one eat a dosa with a fork and knife? that's just weird!
Program = Rib-Problem:
Do while ribs are on the plate
Grab a slice of bread;
Pick up the rib with it;
Eat the rib;
End;
End Program Rib-Problem;
I cut up my vegeburgers simply because i don't want a face-full of toppings, but once it's sliced, it's finger food.
I never realized exactly how much I eat with my fingers, though, until I started thinking about it. I love to eat stuffing/dressing with my hands, as well as corn, pudding, etc. and so on. I don't even think about it any more; I just do.
If the food is easier to eat with fingers, use fingers. I watch people eating a slice of pizza, or french fries, with a fork and I just shake my head. Fried chicken? Fingers; the only exception would be if it was boneless and being served at a semiformal event, in which case it would be knife-and-fork material. Eating with fingers doesn't mean you have to be a slob about it (although with some foods, like BBQ ribs, it's near impossible not to be).
Program = Rib-Problem:
Do while ribs are on the plate
Grab a slice of bread;
Pick up the rib with it;
Eat the rib;
End;
End Program Rib-Problem;
I only eat fries with a fork if I put too much BBQ sauce on them and they are slick.
One of my favorite cuisines is Ethiopian. The traditional meal arrangement is without any eating utensils. Pieces of Injera (like a sourdough pancake type thing) are used to grab meats and veggies draped in delicious spicy sauces. Sometimes makes first time participants uneasy, but most people get over it because of the awesomeness.
Ditto! Ethiopian cuisine is some of the best, in my opinion! And you gotta eat with you hands; at the Ethiopian restaurant I frequent most, the wait-staff wear shirts with a crossed out knife and fork. :)
Just be sure to eat with your right hand in the mideast. Your left hand is only used for wiping – need we draw a picture?
You can't eat a taco with knife and fork!
Actually you can; but it's not that easy.
Correct. Back to the Star Trek stuff: Vulcans don't eat with their hands. One episode of Enterprise showed T'pal and Captain Archer sharing a meal. He was stuffing his face and she had something that would resemble a big pretzel stick on her plate. She eventually sawed through it and managed to poke it with her fork and eat it. Not before stating "Patience, Captain" all Vulcan-smug like.
in russia live many muslim people. besh mean five fingers barmak means lamb beshbarmak eat boiled lamb with pasta by hand
In Soviet Russia, finger food eats YOU!
When the situation calls for it, I do just that. I don't see why people should be embarrassed or disgusted by eating with hands if they are not in a formal setting. (Formal being anywhere it really is not appropriate to eat with hands.) But I do think people shouldn't be disgusting with it. You can eat cleanly even with your hands.
In addition to the type of food being consumed, i.e. pizza, sandwich, nuts, one must take into cosideration cultural differences. Afterall, this is America, "the melting pot"
Depends on what it is. Ribs, I hate to eat with my hands because of the mess and same goes with some chicken. Not ashamed to eat with my hands in public but then again, you're touching a lot of things touched by germy hands in public. I mean even if you wash them before eating you still subconsciously touch stuff before starting. Probably best just to use a good old knife and fork.
Use a piece of bread to pick up the ribs while you chow down. When the ribs are gone, scarf the bread. End of messy rib problem.
Smart!! Love that idea!
Angel baby – are you serious. How do you eat ribs or chicken without your hands. Do you have an expensive manicure to maintain? Come to our house for a rib and chicken eating demo.
my grandma told us one thanksgiving that "God made fingers before he made forks" and i totally agree
I totally agree with your Grandmother!
I only use Sporks!
haha You made me laugh!
My mother-in-law always eats with her hands and it is the most disgusting display I've ever witnessed. In addition to the hands there's the chewing with her mouth open and lots of smacking noises. I avoid eating with her whenever possible. There's nothing that will zap your appetite more quickly than witnessing that display.
While i do not know how "disgusting" it is to see your mother-in-law eat with her hands, I believe there is nothing "disgusting" or "savage" about a practice that is natural. I would think chomping on gum while talking is a far more disgusting practice
"I believe there is nothing "disgusting" or "savage" about a practice that is natural."
So you'd have no problems with communal, open-plan bathrooms then? Nothing quite like watching grandma take a dump - it's all natural!
Beth, Your Mom in law is your husband's Mom. Unless she really is a horrible human being, I would try to overlook her eating style and concentrate on having a nice relationship with your husband's Mom. LIfe is too short to worry about things like that.
I had a mother-in-law who did the same thing. Her bathroom is adjacent to the kitchen and she'll go there in the middle of a dinner and make the usual noises loud enough for all to hear. Got rid of her and her lunatic daughter.
In what floor plan is a bathroom adjacent to a kitchen?
I use my fingers! Why not- if someone doesn't like the way I eat.. don't look! :)
Use whatever makes sense for the task at hand. It doesn't make sense to use your hands to eat pasta (when a fork is best) just as it doesn't make sense to use utensils for a sandwich (since it was created specifically to carry with your hands).
I particularly enjoy eating egg fried rice, ice cream, and top Ramen with my hands only. It's also how I make PB&J sandwiches. That way, no germs from shiny utensils.
... and your hands are squeaky clean? Right.
pizza, nachos, burgers... gotta use your hands!
YES!!!! Vegan bait!
Take that, ninjas!
I enjoy eating with my hands, not only at a picnic or barbeque. In very soigne surroundings and unfamiliar company I will definitely gauge my companions and the tone of the room before I hoist a dollop of mousse de foie gras between forefinger and thumb. It's fun, tho, and the sexiest thing two people can do before they really truly need to get a room.
that sounds delightful
Indeed
There are few things sexier than a woman who really knows how to eat. Bone gnawing, marrow sucking, greasy finger licking, "bury me with a smoked brisket and a bottle of BBQ sauce" women make my heart thump!!
sometimes rats taste better when eaten on hands.
True. I do enjoy seeing a woman get down with a nice piece of meat. Not many do it well.
Only pigs eat like that. Do you perhaps live in a double wide trailer?
dsdfsdfsdf
obviously you'd die of starvation in a crisis, or choke on your pretentiousness.....either way, no big loss
Lip smackin' hot women suck down dem' ribs.