Eating with unfamiliar utensils

Mountain Cat

Mountain Cat

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[Mod.Edit: Re-titled this with a shorter title (MG)]

Debating how to title this one:

If you come from a culture that doesn't use certain implements OR technique for the actual eating of a dish from that culture - have you adjusted? Do you do something else instead?

I live in the US, but I have learned to eat with chopsticks like a native of Korea/Japan/China/Vietnam. I went to a Korean restaurant a few years back, and was given a knife, fork and spoon. No chopsticks, and definitely not the more "slippery" Korean ones. (Yes, there are different styles in east Asia, and some countries there that actually do prefer to use forks these days.) The server was reluctant to give them to me. I was complemented on the fact that I could indeed use them. Both that day, and by the cook at another restaurant.

I now own a set of 5 pairs of Korean chop sticks, along with the many Chinese ones. I also have a set of Korean spoons - long handles, and also metal, to go along with...

But beyond any other spoon that one can use for soup - I LOVE the Chinese soup spoons. I use them exclusively at home for soup. They are deeper, and more useful than western spoons (or even the Korean ones). I remember at work when we switched for some wasteful reason to plastic-ware to eat with, they provided NO soup spoon sized implements. I brought in my own Chinese soup spoons to dine with. (No idea why they did that - it was pre-COVID, too.) When they brought metal-ware back, it was still without genuine soup spoons, but I was already totally happy having transitioned to my own spoons...

On the other paw, I cannot for the life of me, twirl spaghetti on a fork. It splatters sauce all around and including on what I am wearing. I will NEVER order this type of pasta out in the presence of anyone with even an iota of Italian genetics in them, for this reason. Yes, I cut that pasta up. I feel so badly about this that I won't even purchase pasta in that format for home use.

I don't know when or how I learned to eat with east Asian implements. Apparently it happened early enough in my life it is "muscle memory". I haven't been able to translate that learning skill to spaghetti... I admit I grew up with less incentive to learn how to eat that dish properly. (But I would like to.)

SO what do you all do? And are there other utensils or eating techniques out there in the world that it would be nice to try to adapt to?
 
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I'm hit or miss with chopsticks. I love Chinese soup spoons as well. They just make more sense. ;-)

As for spaghetti, I would never order it if I was eating in a business setting. It's too messy.

I taught my kids how to twirl their spaghetti using a spaghetti fork. It has a longer tine in the middle to act as an "anchor" point. The kids loved using them and now they can do it with a regular dinner fork.

61ajFFoUpHL._AC_SS350_.jpg
 
mjd-lovescooking said:
I'm hit or miss with chopsticks. I love Chinese soup spoons as well. They just make more sense. ;-)

As for spaghetti, I would never order it if I was eating in a business setting. It's too messy.

I taught my kids how to twirl their spaghetti using a spaghetti fork. It has a longer tine in the middle to act as an "anchor" point. The kids loved using them and now they can do it with a regular dinner fork.

View attachment 49606
Click to expand...

I shall have to get a small set of those!
 
Mountain Cat said:
Debating how to title this one:

If you come from a culture that doesn't use certain implements OR technique for the actual eating of a dish from that culture - have you adjusted? Do you do something else instead?

I live in the US, but I have learned to eat with chopsticks like a native of Korea/Japan/China/Vietnam. I went to a Korean restaurant a few years back, and was given a knife, fork and spoon. No chopsticks, and definitely not the more "slippery" Korean ones. (Yes, there are different styles in east Asia, and some countries there that actually do prefer to use forks these days.) The server was reluctant to give them to me. I was complemented on the fact that I could indeed use them. Both that day, and by the cook at another restaurant.

I now own a set of 5 pairs of Korean chop sticks, along with the many Chinese ones. I also have a set of Korean spoons - long handles, and also metal, to go along with...

But beyond any other spoon that one can use for soup - I LOVE the Chinese soup spoons. I use them exclusively at home for soup. They are deeper, and more useful than western spoons (or even the Korean ones). I remember at work when we switched for some wasteful reason to plastic-ware to eat with, they provided NO soup spoon sized implements. I brought in my own Chinese soup spoons to dine with. (No idea why they did that - it was pre-COVID, too.) When they brought metal-ware back, it was still without genuine soup spoons, but I was already totally happy having transitioned to my own spoons...

On the other paw, I cannot for the life of me, twirl spaghetti on a fork. It splatters sauce all around and including on what I am wearing. I will NEVER order this type of pasta out in the presence of anyone with even an iota of Italian genetics in them, for this reason. Yes, I cut that pasta up. I feel so badly about this that I won't even purchase pasta in that format for home use.

I don't know when or how I learned to eat with east Asian implements. Apparently it happened early enough in my life it is "muscle memory". I haven't been able to translate that learning skill to spaghetti... I admit I grew up with less incentive to learn how to eat that dish properly. (But I would like to.)

SO what do you all do? And are there other utensils or eating techniques out there in the world that it would be nice to try to adapt to?
Click to expand...
I've tried to eat with (Japanese) chopsticks many times but haven't succeeded. I still use them more like a spoon; can't handle the grabbing very well. RA makes it a bit harder as three of my right hand fingers point to the northeast. Like mjd-lovescooking, I consider myself quite handy in eating spaghetti with a fork. My mom - who loves Italy like me - first taught us kids to make the twirl on top of a spoon. Later on, it was easy to leave the spoon out.
 
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I can use chopsticks now without having to think about it, though certainly not with any proficiency.

I may have related this before but a couple of years ago we stayed in Hong Kong at a hotel which catered for most tastes at breakfast, and I was fascinated to watch a Chinese couple see off a full English breakfast with chopsticks, it was a serious lesson in dexterity.
 
My Korean ex-SIL took great pleasure in teaching me to use chopsticks when I was a teenager. To this day, though, if I'm using chopsticks, I look like I'm deciphering the Rosetta Stone or something. Much concentration on my part.

Spaghetti, I have zero issue with, and I've eaten it every which way it can be eaten, I think: fork, fork-and-spoon, cutting (no, don't do that), Lady-And-The-Tramp style). The trick is to start with much, much less than you think, because it'll grow on the fork before you know it.
 
this is hootsville for me. in high school we did an 'oriental month' and chopsticks was the only implement available.
learn, use your fingers, or go hungry..... I learned. we did a contest with Jello....

I don't swirl long pasta on a spoon for eating - but I do swirl long pasta on a big spoon with a fork to make a bed/nest for serving scrumptious nuggets - like reallybig sea scallops and beef tenderloin bits.

btw, we have an Aldi and a Lidl market in our town. we by seized opportunity perused the Lidl market a couple days back. they had super-gigantic dry packed sea scallops for like $10/lb.... get them. . . .
 
One of the things I struggled badly with in China was eating. I don’t really like the food and I can’t eat with chopsticks. All restaurants gave me a fork and knife except one, that had NO cutlery at all. I made a huge mess eating, felt awful and hungry afterwards.

I can’t eat spaghetti italian style either...I always cut my spaghetti (sue me...)

Something I found funny about my american colleagues is that most if not all of then eat only with one hand, using only the fork!
 
LissaC said:
One of the things I struggled badly with in China was eating. I don’t really like the food and I can’t eat with chopsticks. All restaurants gave me a fork and knife except one, that had NO cutlery at all. I made a huge mess eating, felt awful and hungry afterwards.

I can’t eat spaghetti italian style either...I always cut my spaghetti (sue me...)

Something I found funny about my american colleagues is that most if not all of then eat only with one hand, using only the fork!
Click to expand...

I don't use a knife unless I need one to cut something, or spread something (like butter on bread). I know that over there, people often use a knife to push food onto a fork. That's not seen a lot here.

CD
 
LissaC said:
Something I found funny about my american colleagues is that most if not all of then eat only with one hand, using only the fork!
Click to expand...

Yep - this came up before. I find it very odd as it means that to cut anything up I assume you have to change the fork to the other hand and then put the used knife back on the table (ugh). Most Brits tend to eat with a knife and fork unless its casual eating on the sofa (which I personally hate).
 
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