Thursday, July 06, 2006

USE YOUR HANDS!!

Ok...
My usual outing to Mall of the Emirates starts out with a visit to Virgin Megastore.. and it's a lengthy visit... which involves a thorough search through the DVD section.. my routine after that whether I buy something or not is a short trip to Columbus cafe adjascent to Virgin... I order my usual... a strawberry smoothie(it's absolute heaven!) so I wait for my drink.. in the mean time I quickly scan the people in the coffee shop.. that's when something caught my eye...
this thin omani dude in his local attire sits quietly in the centre table of the shop having a muffin... AH... but how was he having his muffin... well.. he was slicing through it with a fork a knife.. and may I add the paper cup was still around the muffin... he looked as if he was struggling...maybe thinking.. 'why the hell can't I eat this with my hands..damn the english!!'...I almost felt sorry for the guy and wanted to approach him and say.. listen man.. you can eat with your hands..you'll enjoy it better...but then again I've seen worse... I've seen people cut up a california roll before sticking it in their mouths.. by that time it's completely disintegrated on the plate(really beats the purpose of having it in the first place).. or even better.. how about having a hamburger with a fork and knife...what the hell..
So our topic?
When is it ok to use your hands to eat...
The culture that I come from, well.. we always eat with our hands because of the nature of our food... I blame the british who came and ruled for bringing in the cutlery with them.. In addition.. if you go to a really traditional family... we all dig in the same large plate of rice..We stick to our corner... add the 'achar' and the 'salona' (if you're thinking it's discusting.. trust me after you taste the food.. you'll be licking your fingers for more..)But..Gone are those days... I hardly eat with my hands nowadays.. except when I'm eating fish with my rice.. try getting the bones off the fish with a fork, not easy.. so I use my hands.. it's comfortable.. and great once you know what you're doing..
What I've noticed over the years is our people or people from this region think that being 'modern' or 'open minded' means you have to eat with a fork, spoon, and knife..what these 'IGNORANT' people don't know is when to use the cutlery and when to use the hands..
so here's my list of things that can be eaten by hand for those who are too cool to know...
1. buffalo wings
2. Pizza
3. Sandwich (and I mean any sandwich) including Croissants
4. fastfood/junkfood
5. Anything that comes in a paper cup.. such as cupcakes, Muffins, scones..etc
6. Danish Pastries
7. any fruit
8. 'Add yours here'

Now things NOT to eat with your hands...
1. Steak
2. soup (kinda difficult no? but you can sip right through the bowl if you're at a japenese place)
3. any salad.. be it veg or fruit salad
4. and everything else that's not on the previous list...

There...
It's off my shoulder...

16 comments:

Al Sinjab said...

Things taste so much better when they're eaten with your hands!

Can I eat tabouleh with my hands? Or is that only acceptable if I make it into a tabouleh sandwich? With humus beiruti and pickle in a pita...it's so amazing...ok, I am getting too excited ...

Cosmic girl said...

Tabouleh.. hommos in pita breab...Oh definitely yummy...
with hands..with hands.. with finger-lickin hands..

Tainted Female said...

Well, I’ve gotta say that I’ve been here a long, long time and grew up predominantly around locals. I hardly know how to eat with a knife & fork now, and think you should mention here that eating with your hands is Sunnah as the Prophet Mohammed (salalhu allahiwasalaam) did so, and also that the ruling family isn’t beyond eating with there hands. It wasn’t long before my father had to learn due to the feasts he was fed out of hospitality! (Oh, and I eat salad with my hands all the time!) But you should add icecream & jello to the list of no-no’s!

Cosmic girl said...

thanks tainted.. I wanted to add the sunnah part but opted not to.. I'm glad you pointed it out..

besides I really think the food tastes better eaten by hand...

dhaheri said...

lucky for me I was full before reading this.....damm it...now I am hungry OK bye

adding to that its not culture ...the reason for all of this is women....yup to keep our cloth clean we should use spoon & stuff & have...its good there is a washing machine after all...makes the wife happy...though it was hell when it got brook the other day =S

men live in a cave all there life just around women we try to act as gentle as we could ...its dangerous & gay...so we try not to act for long or then it will be o late to come back...poor that Omani guy...

anyway my advice is to live free from all of this ...just eat the way you like...I eat like KIDS...till the washer breaks then its time to behave

=P

Cosmic girl said...

Hey D.. I've seen you eat.. you ENJOY your food.. you INDULGE... this poor guy was not enjoying his food (muffin) whatsoever.!!

dhaheri said...

wallah he should have left & fins some nice place for beryani or kabab

Cosmic girl said...

hey Balushi..
you mean the amount of sins YOU do...

Cosmic girl said...

oh B..you are naive.. I forgive you...
let me see.. simple english..
uhmmmm... sins = pregnancy without marriage..kids out of wedlock

on the other hand... marriage then kids.. I see no sin in that...

Cosmic girl said...

oh boy..
I'm not even going to bother this time...
hey B..
Get a life man.. it's only a BLOG..

Harsha said...

well Balu boy , the sin you do without a girl, can get ur hands dirty, but the sin you do with the girl, wil get her pregnant, but will also probably keep your hands comparitively clean.

Al Sinjab said...

hehe harsha, not if you're doing it right! :)

flamin said...

i love eating with my hands. i CANNOT understand people who eat pizzas and muffins with a fork/knife.

Cosmic girl said...

md.. we need to educate them...

Hot Lemon& Honey said...

Well, maybe ....maybeeeeeeee he doesn't think his hands are clean enough to use them, I know few who do that if they thought their hands are dirty.
But I agree why make your life difficult when you can do it the easy way.

Cosmic girl said...

and maaybe just maaaybe.... he's just too lazy 'cause the washroom is just by the cafe...
just maayyyybeee...
and THAT would make life more difficult than having to struggle with the knife and fork..
:)