Food etiquette rules that might surprise you

[AsahinaKimi]

You have good manners, right? After all, you (usually) keep your elbows off the table and say "Please pass the salt." But when you head abroad, things get a little more complicated. Case in point: Rest your chopsticks the wrong way, and you might remind a Japanese friend of their grandmother's funeral (Rule 2).

But knowing what the etiquette rules are won't just save you from some awkward situations, says Dean Allen, author of the Global Etiquette Guide series. It can also help you make friends. "It's really a statement of your openness and awareness of the fact that the people you're with ... may in fact see the world differently," he says. "It's simply going to get you out of the tourist bubble." Sound good? Then here are 15 rules to keep in mind.

In Thailand, don't put food in your mouth with a fork.

Instead, when eating a dish with cooked rice, use your fork only to push food onto your spoon. A few exceptions: Some northern and northeastern Thai dishes are typically eaten with the hands—you'll know you've encountered such a dish if the rice used is glutinous or "sticky." Also, stand-alone items that are not part of a rice-based meal may be eaten with a fork. But, says Leela Punyaratabandhu, a food writer who blogs at SheSimmers.com, the worst thing to do at a traditional, rice-based meal would be to use chopsticks. "That is awkward and inconvenient at best and tacky at worst," she says.

more..
http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/food-etiquette-rules-that-might-surprise-you.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. Here's another

Don't hurl vast quantities of undigested material on your host, it can ruin dessert.

Thanks for the thread, AsahinaKimi.

[saras]

2. Are we obligated to show more respect for others' etiquette rules than we do our own silliness?

Just wondering...

In the West, some small amount of etiquette is based in consideration for others. Much of it is sheer pretentiousness, hundred-year-old leftovers of people trying to impress each other with their stuffiness.

Do we assume this is completely untrue in other countries?

Or do I just have to stay the hell out of Russia because there is no way ever I'm going to down a shot of vodka without projectile vomiting for the next half hour?

[HopeHoops]

3. If you're eating with Klingons, ALWAYS use your fingers. I know how to use chopsticks.

I can pick up a single grain of rice with them, even the Korean sticks. It took years to learn, but I'm good at it. I also roll my own sushi (kim bap in Korean) and only use chopsticks for that. What really got me was when our Korean friends first cooked for us. The community bowls where you grab food for your plate and eat it with the same chopsticks was, well, "foreign". We got used to it. Perhaps the weirdest thing was when we served ginger snaps one day and they thought they were "hot". Their fucking food burnt the hell out of my throat (and contained ginger), and I eat food with habanero peppers on it!!!

Even at home, we still use chopsticks with appropriate meals and my three daughters are all proficient at it. She's in Budapest for the semester and her blog is KrystinasCrossings.com. In the most recent post, she's the one in the green t-shirt with a ponytail and no glasses.

Hey, where's the new picture? You said you'd have more pictures!

[AsahinaKimi]

4. **off topic ~ however

I do have some new ones, but have been told to be careful as sometimes photos are taken and used. I will see what I can do about
new ones. Thanks!