Eating habits

Post by **lomuamart** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 2:19 am

A little while ago tonight, I got told off. Sternly!!
My wife had cooked some food. I went into the kitchen and tried some with my hand from the main serving dish.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are only the two of us here and the meal's for us as well.
Apparantly, I shouldn't use my hands in a "communal" plate, despite the fact that it's our house and it's only the two of us eating.
Well. that's beyond me because I've eaten food in "worse circumstances" and
everyone ate from the communal bowl - with their hands.
Oh well?

Post by **Big Boy** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 4:49 am

lomu,

Sounds very strange to me. Certainly when my wife cooks for Thais, they all sit on the floor (ok we've done that bit already), and have a variety of dishes on "communal" spread around the mat on which they sit around the edges. When they start, they normally take a handful of sticky rice and then dig into whatever dish they fancy with their other hand. Certainly no serving spoons where it is easier to handle by hand.

My wife is from the North East. Where's your wife from? Do they have different eating habits there? (silly question I suppose - they obviously do).

Post by **lomuamart** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:57 am

Exactly, BB.
I think she just had the hump with me last night. I can't understand it either.

Post by **klikster** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:01 am

Did you perchance reach into the food bowl with your left hand? Older Thais and many Asian cultures think less of the left hand as is was/is used when cleaning after ablutions.

Post by **dtaai-maai** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 11:29 am

You're not alone, lomu. Had a bit of an odd exchange here yesterday. Nothing to do with food, except it took place in the kitchen. Mrs D-M was trying to hammer a large screw into the wooden window frame. I gently suggested a screwdriver might be more efficient (and certainly quieter), or, if the hammer was the weapon of choice, a nail might prove an easier victim.

Advice well meant, but I'll concede that I may have chosen the wrong moment - should have waited till she put the hammer down. Tactical withdrawal on my part.

Next time she has her hair done I'll find the filler and then bang in a nail.

Not a cultural conflict, more a misunderstanding between genders.

Venus and Mars.

Post by **lomuamart** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:37 pm

Good point, klikster, but I always use my right hand when eating.
Anyway, I'm still alive even after returning from San Paulo where they managed to get the meat cleaver out of my forehead without too much bother.
It's all quiet on the eastern front today