Eating off banana leaves, knifing food on china platters, or slurping from bowls, food etiquettes change as you shift along the geo coordinates. You may know how to perfectly tilt the soup bowl away from yourself in Britain or to never, ever order a post-meal cappuccino when in Italy. But did you know downing neat vodka shots & endless cups of coffee can get you mucho amor and not the stink eye? We fib you not, it’s true – you only have to be at the right place!
With every region boasting of its own traditions, what’s crazy in the East may be normal in the West & what’s encouraged up North can be frowned upon down South. We at DSSC decided to track down what would be the quirkiest, whackiest dining etiquettes
for us Indians. So off we went, wielding our spades to dig out top five strange customs our fellow folks follow across the world, and here’s what we found.
Don’t fork around with food – Thailand
In Thailand you never simply put your fork in your mouth, you inevitably put your foot along with it. When dining in this Southeast Asian country you’re handed a fork & spoon pair instead of the typical fork & knife, and your pronged homie gets a makeover. The fork is there only to help you cut & coax food onto the spoon, as you use the spoon to eat. While sticking a fork into a dish and chowing directly is no taboo, it’s sure to brand you a savage, and not in the good sense! So, use the fork to transfer bite-sized food onto your spoon, and only the spoon to bring it to your mouth – and don’t be surprised when you see locals with happy tears in their eyes.
Love it? Then trash it! – Spain
Image: flicker.com
If you’re happy and you know it, trash the floor! Don’t rub ‘em eyes, you read that right – if you had a cracker of a time at a tapas bar in Spain, tip them by trashing their space. From casual to sophisticated, all tapas bars encourage you to litter their floor as it’s synonymous with a positive review for them. Our amigos also have a popular notion that more the junk, better the tapas bar; so whenever you’re looking to tap a tapas in Spain next, pick the one with the dirtiest floor! With Team Offsite 2017 sorted, this gets our vote for the most fun dining custom of the year.
Stevie’s tip: While the bars encourage trashing their floor, it’s limited to paper napkins & bills. If you go about dumping personal waste in their space, they’ll be your amigos no more.
Don’t get cheesy about seafood – Italy
Image: eatwisconsincheese.com
If not asking for a cappuccino after meals is Italy’s top rule, the no-cheese-with-seafood is in the running to dethrone it. Though the world enjoys getting cheesy with its seafood, Italian traditionalists steer clear, of what this would be in their terms, a culinary catastrophe. A two-point theory supports this belief – the delicate flavours of seafood will be overwhelmed by a rich seasoning such as cheese; and major cheese making regions like Lombardy, Piedmont, and Veneto are landlocked, thus creating recipes without any consideration to seafood over the centuries. As our heads nod along that logic, our hands reach out to sprinkle some parmesan on our shellfish pasta (the heart wants what it wants)!
Shake a goodbye to coffee – Arab regions
Image: blog.raynatours.com
In the Arabic communities, like the Bedouins and Emirati, when you’re having a cuppa joe sesh be sure to shake your cup to indicate that you’re done, or be prepped to get endless coffee refills. Dining out or visiting these good folks at home, this rule is strictly followed, and with precision! So practice the perfect side-to-side cup shake, as handing it back to the server normally means “I want another pour”, and will leave you with a caffeine rush like no other. However, if you’ve come over to the dark side like us, you might just avoid shaking your cuppa till you’ve emptied their dallahs (coffee pots)!
Go neat or go home – Russia
Image: uk.thebar.com
While vodka is the top party-starter hooch and a cocktail favourite, the peeps from its homeland believe in having it only one way – neat. The Russians reckon that mixing vodka with any other ingredient compromises its purity, so it’s vodka shots all the way, even in formal settings! You’re served zakuski (snacks) along with the drink, and the four-step process is exhale, shoot up, eat, repeat. When it comes to tipples, we prefer to toe the line, and in the spirit of being traditional we’re shifting over to the neat-vodka-shots-only rule.
In the spirit of tracing intriguing dining etiquettes, our DSSC homie-radar pointed towards Arjun Puri & Bani Nanda, the travel & food loving folks. Our ace mates pick from their chronicles to answer the à la DSSC rapid fire questions on quirky food etiquettes.
Q .What’s the most intriguing dining etiquettes you’ve encountered till date, and where?
Arjun: At one privately catered dinner in London I was handed six spoons and eight forks on either side of my plate. I was intrigued by the incredible display and use of cutlery!
Bani: During my initial days at Le Cordon Bleu I was invited to a communal supper in Normandy, and it was bewildering to see guests place their baguettes directly on the table. Over time it became a habit, and now when I do that here in Delhi, people think I have no etiquettes!
Q. One strange food custom you love and would like to incorporate within Indian customs?
Arjun: In Tanzania it’s the custom to be between 15 to 30 minutes late for dinner, in fact it’s considered rude to be on time. Since Indian standard Time syndrome already exists, we might as well get quirky around it – make it a rule and let people be happy about being late!
Bani: It has to be the French tradition of including a cheese course right before the dessert. Yes, I might be a little obsessed with the French!
Q. And one quirky Indian tradition you want the world to adopt?
Arjun: Eating with hands! I have travelled far and wide, across the world, and the meals I have relished the most are the ones eaten by hands.
Bani: Eating food with my hands – I love that! I’ve seen people abroad eating naan with fork & knife, and it was pure torture.
Q. Ever made a food etiquette faux pas yourself?
Arjun: Recently, I was at a tasting involving fusion food, which meant the portions were tiny. As the staff placed an appetiser in front of me, I devoured the five small pieces all by myself, not realising it was for the entire table! To be fair, I was really hungry, but this one’s up there with the awkward food stories. C’est la vie, eh?
Bani: At the same Normandy supper, I was yet unaware of the cheese course and dived straight into the dessert. When I realised my faux pas, I finished the dessert, joined the others for the cheese course, and then came back to dessert again! Though everyone was polite and didn’t point it out, the situation was hilarious!
We’re definitely taking cue, be it visiting Russia this summer, teaching the world to eat with their hands, or channeling cutlery at suppers. How about you?
Know any quirky dining etiquettes? Share in the comments below or mail us at editorial@dssc.co.
Featured Image Courtesy: goodhousekeeping.com
