Hand to Mouth - Through My Eyes And Oprah’s

Posted by Meghna on Jul 27,2021

‘So I hear some people in India still eat with their hands.’

Twelve words. A deafening silence. And then an outrageous uproar that resounded all over Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry Messenger and the rest of India. Other than Bollywood, the other thing that really gets our country going is anybody raising a finger (in this case, a hand) on our maan and maryaada. Yes, we are a nation that is intensely proud of its age old culture, a factor of life that is starkly missing across the seas where Oprah runs her chat show from.

Well Ms. Winfrey, do excuse me, but I hear some people in the U.S. still eat with their hands too. Unless of course you know of a rare undercover sect that eats its french fries and burgers and hotdogs and corn-on-the-cob with forks and knives. By expressing her mild horror at the prospect of one not deeming it fit to push around rice on a banana leaf with a fork and knife and spoon, Oprah has become a celebrity undone in India at least. Interestingly, I doubt she would’ve made the same observation had she come across an individual eating pizza with his hands and not a slum-dweller eating rice in the same fashion. However, there is a time to delve deeply into Western notions of cultural superiority, and this is not it.

Had she done her research thoroughly, Ms. Winfrey would’ve arrived at the bright conclusion that other than her own country and the India she never managed to see outside of her stereotyped blinkers, there are cultures and cuisines worldover that do not demand the use of cutlery when eating.

Fufu and the accompanying soup

In Ghana, for example, soup is eaten with hands. Fufu, the staple food of West and Central Africa is made by boiling starchy vegetables like cassava, yams or plantains and then pounding them into a dough-like consistency. Fufu is eaten by taking a small ball of it in one’s fingers and then dipping into an accompanying soup or sauce.

Malaysian rice

Eating with one’s fingers is perfectly acceptable in Malaysia, where a variety of rice-based dishes are served on banana leaves. It is widely believed that the flavor and the aromas of the food , stimulates the tongue and propels the exquisite taste to new heights when eaten by hand.

Japanese Sushi!

Sushi, the Japanese delicacy that is famous world over is a popular finger food which is eaten with great gusto with chopsticks or with one’s hands.

The King of Fruits

Eating a mango Caribbean-style involves peeling the skin with one’s teeth and then biting into the juicy pulp of the fruit! The pure unadulterated pleasure this way of enjoying a mango is unbeatable. The Indian variety of Tapka mangoes are traditionally eaten by sucking the pulp out from the fruit and not slicing it, for the texture is too soft for slices to hold.

Tandoori chicken

You cannot even begin to imagine the scathing looks you will be subjected to if you ever suggest eating Tandoori chicken in a manner other than with one’s hands. Blasphemous it shall be.

The examples are endless and ingrained somewhere or the other within every culture of the world. We all need stop to sticking our noses in the air and let loose a little. Far more pleasurable is the simple act of popping a handful of shelled peas into one’s mouth (and running out of the kitchen before your mum whacks you) instead of mashing them gently against the side of your fork in a well-mannered fashion and then scooping them daintily into your mouth.

Also, studies believe that eating with the hands engages all of ones senses into the activity, making it more beneficial for the body. Simply put though, its way more fun on any given day