Eating in private vs. public - Page 3

oh lord no kk...not at all!....i was talking about nancy mitchell on ordo's dining etiquette video...you did watch it didn't you? i just dubbed her miss manners cuz it seemed to fit......

so sorry that you even thought anything other....ain't my style

joey

Miss KK, I think Joey was referring to the gal in that etiquette video, not you I'm sure!

all of us here are goddesses!  So I guess that means that it doesn't matter how eat sit at the table, how we eat our food that we are all so passionate about...

because we're all goddesses!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koukouvagia 

 

I wonder how we'd all get along at a real dinner table.

ooh kk, what a fabulously fun idea....let's all plan a virtual dinner party!!! everyone's invited, everyone brings something...appetizers,bar, dinner, dessert, wine....

one thing for sure.....ordo, you're the bartender! or perhaps a moving course party...a different course at a different house....hmmm, anyone game?

what would we talk about?       EVERYTHING!!!!!

joey

welcome to autumn everyone...hope it's fabulous where you live.  it is here...

isn't that an interesting thought... how would we behave at the table?  I know for me, I'd have a hard time finishing my plate in a timely manner mainly becasue I'd be talking too much...  Joey, I like the progressive dinner party idea! I'm all in!

A virtual party? Not sure. I'm so bad using chopsticks it would be embarrassing:

When I'm out with my girl friends, we yak so much we hardly even eat.  I noticed recently we left the whole basket of bread untouched, which would NEVER happen if I were out with a man or another family member.  

 I don't really avoid most things, except drippy stuff if I'm wearing something that I think will be irreparably harmed.   But I've certainly been embarrased before trying to deal with something.   Like Calamari in Sausalito one day.  It was just like eating rubber bands, and I didn't know what to do with them.   Looking back, I should have sent them back.   I also got this HUGE taco one day, local Mexican restaurant.  I couldn't quite figure out how to attack it so that I wasn't wearing most of it.  Finally went for the knife and fork.   And we have an outstanding local Deli, but they pack their sandwiches with WAY too much meat.  I cannot eat all that.  so I buy a package of egg buns from their excellent bakery, slit the meat in half and take it home and have a sandwich (or two) later.  I feel kind of conspicuous de-constructing the sandwich and asking for a container for what I take off of it..

sometimes when faced with eating sushi rolls in public i opt for a knife and fork which is not how they are intended to be eaten for sure.  i find sometimes they are too big for one bite and putting the whole thing in my mouth at once would look and feel ghoulish and very, very unattractive...then with the whole thing in your mouth, how do you chew or talk or swallow or drink? unless i know the place and how they make them, sadly i just don't order them out anymore.....how do you sushi?

joey

I guess it is the same principle as what my father used to say when we entertained, "If you don't have leftovers, you didn't have enough."   But being from the USA, I have zero problem with people cleaning their plate, and then saying "no thank you" to offers of more.  I figure they know when/if they are full and who am I to question it?  In fact, even though I'm sure it is a time-honored custom, I think it is a bit arrogant to inspect people's plates.  I respect them enough to assume they know what they want.  But if I were in Italy (and I've heard about this custom before) I'd leave a little something.  But here in the US, I think it is up to foreigners to learn and accept our customs.   

Too weird about the Japanese thinking that pushing the calamari off the serving platter was rude.   How were they taking theirs?  With tongs one at a time?   

Other countries do have different customs, and I suppose we look like pigs to some foreigners.  I remember being in college and offended at the way the Norwegians ate.  I mean, they practically lined their mouths up with the edge of the plate and started shoveling .   So I suppose we Americans look that to other people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

sometimes when faced with eating sushi rolls in public i opt for a knife and fork which is not how they are intended to be eaten for sure.  i find sometimes they are too big for one bite and putting the whole thing in my mouth at once would look and feel ghoulish and very, very unattractive...then with the whole thing in your mouth, how do you chew or talk or swallow or drink? unless i know the place and how they make them, sadly i just don't order them out anymore.....how do you sushi?

joey

Sushi etiquette 101 says that you are to eat in one bite, it's rude not too. I feel you on this though, as some nigiri I feel STUFFED trying to manage in one bite. . . if you can't do it in one bite, don't put the left over bite on your plate either, just hold it in your chopsticks and finish once you have swallowed the first bite. Eating with a knife and fork is often an insult, as it sends the message the fish is too tough, or the roll is prepared poorly.

Also, pick up sushi pieces with the thick(butt end) of the sticks, and eat with the tips.

Don't add soy or wasabi, or ginger to the pieces as it's an insult to the Itamae. Use the ginger to cleanse the palate between bites. And if you do soy, dip fish side down. . . and I have heard that a LOT of sushi chefs get pissed to see people mix soy and wasabi, and it's a Westernized" thing.

There are like a million and six subtleties with Sushi. . .best to just enjoy it, and try not to over think it, unless you are in one of those $300 a head type places, and everything is ALL about the experience, the fish, and the Itamae is your guide for the evening.

Oh my goodness! I break every sushi rule there is. And I still feel like it's something I should be eating in private. With my fingers. I have such a hard time biting something in half that I'm trying to hold onto with chopsticks and I can never manage it in a single bite. 

My grandfather once said to me: "it is not shame to eat." He was poor and he knows it, when you're hungry is not important what you eat, where you eat or with whom you eat.
 

If you like a different sauce what's the problem? I think a lot of these "rules", like with sushi, are more questions of snobbery rather than good manners.  Good manners are meant not to offend, while behind snobbisms is the very INTENTION to offend .  Like the no cheese on fish pasta "rule" or the no red wine with fish "rule". They're intended to make people feel uncomfortable and "wrong".   Why would anyone take offense what sauce you put on it?  As long as you don't stuff five in your mouth at once letting rice and raw fish dribble all over the table and your shirt!  Or if there are four pieces of it for four people and you take three of them.    But if i make a wonderful dish and someone wants to put ketchup on it, at most that's their loss, not mine.