PrintSharing Food?
When out to dinner with a group , are you happy to let everyone have a taste of your meal, or are you 'gollem like' and refuse to share? ("my preciousssss..."
I'm very happy to share and I'm afraid that people take advantage of this. Its quite rude when you offer someone a bite and they hoe into it like its their last meal. Its also doubly rude when people start taking bites of it BEFORE I HAVE OFFERED.
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16 Comments:
I offer one bite on my food, but when someone takes a bite without me offering/them asking or more than one bite that's when I get defensive!
Ash at 12:25AM on 07/28/07
Having made the decision some years ago to revoke my membership in the "clean plate club," I consciously try to eat only half of whatever is served to me at a restaurant. This has led to some serious weight loss (which for me was a good thing), but that's beside the point. Now, people I dine out with know that they can expect to try some of what I'm having. It's a great system -- I don't feel bad about the "starving kids in China" because my food wasn't "wasted" and I get to maintain a healthy body mass index!
But I agree, someone just grabbing something off of your plate without being it being offered first is poor manners.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 9:38AM on 07/28/07
I love sharing food, especially when I'm out to eat with one or two other people. It's really fun to do with people who have similar tastes, and that way you get to sample more of the menu. Ethnic food is, I think, particularly suited for sharing.
Littlebluesiren at 1:00PM on 07/28/07
I usually offer to share, especially if it's something that nobody has tasted before. But I will usually put a little food on their plate, then there's no question that they will 'dig in.' My husband and I always share, but we always ask first (even if the fork is already going to his plate!) it's just the polite thing to do.
It also depends on the situation - I wouldn't want to share if I'm with people I'm not close to, that's just weird...
Chau at 4:02PM on 07/28/07
In my family, growing up, sharing was de rigeur. No one was allowed to order the same thing as anyone else. If two people wanted the same thing, complicated negotiations would ensue, with each choosing a back-up and bargaining out. Once, when I was about 12, my father's relatives joined us for dinner and all six of them ordered the exact same thing. I whispered to my mom, "Is Daddy going to allow them to do that?"
What I'm trying to say, is that we took sharing food really seriously in my family.
As a result, offering my meal to someone else at the table is second nature to me. No one's ever taken something from my plate unasked, because they never need to. But, quite frankly, I'm appalled that anyone would act that way. That is WAY rude.
klg19 at 2:48PM on 07/29/07
I am, I admit, one of those ultimate sinners who will take things off your plate without asking - but only if I know you well and we've eaten out together qiute a few times and I feel that sharing is implied. While I've gotten my fingers slapped with forks a few times, I seem powerless to stop this ingrained habit. In my family food was pretty communal and if you were eating slowly, you had to expect a few forks to come your way.
It was terrible training, I know.
B
Hand to Mouth
Making Stock of the Situation
A blog for penniless gourmets
handtomouth at 8:34AM on 07/30/07
Chinese restaurants (and lots of Italian places as well) often serve family style: food in the middle of the table and smaller plates in front of each person.
We've always treated large restaurant entrees the same way. Your server will gladly bring you smaller plates (or use the bread plates if you must).
We're just back from a long weekend in New Orleans (that town is still one of the best restaurant cities in America -- more restaurants are open now than pre-Katrina) and all the servers knew how to treat us right.
andmore at 8:59AM on 07/30/07
I freely admit to stealing a fry or two- not a handful- from a pal's plate when dining out and hope those that know me know they can do the same. I draw the line at forking into someone else's entree without an invitation and would stab anyone whose hand or utensil crossed the threshold of my own plate. I gladly offer samples of what I'm having to my husband (and others) though he doesn't always accept and RARELY reciprocates. Hmph.
Call me Smegal if you want.... :)
AuntJone at 1:13PM on 07/30/07
When can you take food from someone's plate without it being offered.....NEVER!!! It is rude. If the food is offered, that's another story.
elaine at 3:38PM on 07/30/07
I just have a weird personal rule where I love to offer people some of my food, but if someone asks me for a bite I get all tense and repulsed. I'm sure my therapist would juggle that around for a few hours. Anyway, that's the rule, if I feel like sharing I will offer, if you ask, I'll never feel like sharing.
spanklin at 5:31PM on 07/30/07
@ spanklin: I experience the same feeling when someone asks for a bite of my food, before I have offered. Even if I was going to offer anyway. Maybe its a power/dominance/control thing?
choc_puddin at 7:55PM on 07/30/07
I can not stand it when people sample from my plate without asking. I ended a date one time because the girl thought it was cute to just scoop food off my plate with her fork. ASK FIRST! GRRRRRRR!!
PhotoKirk at 10:30PM on 07/30/07
In an Asian country like mine, we always have communal meal. If we dine out in western restaurant, my family, especially me are always so tense about ordering the same thing. Even amongst my friends I'm known as being Nazi about conformity. What's the fun of ordering the same things? Plus I never manage to finish my meal. Therefore, everybody knows that what goes in my plate are theirs to sample and even finish.
With an equally small appetite friend, we devise an eating game where we switch plates ever minutes or so. It helps to make finishing a meal less of a boring chore.
When my sister's then boyfriend (now husband) joined our dining out, things kind of gotten awkward. He's very well-mannered and he must've been weirded out by our barbaric habit. Solution? We used bread plates and offer him a slice of whatever in our plates and vice versa.
I don't think I'd be able to take it i i had to dine with some smeagols
When I dine with people I barely know (or on a date), I'd offer them to sample my meal, and if they seem reluctant, I'd do the bread plate technicque. I do decline politely even if they offered me to sample meals in their plates though
winny at 6:02AM on 07/31/07
I'm all about the sharing. Once I went out with my brother for sandwiches and when I suggested, "Let's get different sandwiches and split them," he looked at me like I was insane. In response, I looked at him as though he were insane. Come on man, you could have twice the sandwich variety! WHO WOULDN'T WANT THAT?
I don't always share—it depends who I'm eating with and what their food sharing comfort level is like. But I have the most fun when my friends and have this unspoken mutual understanding that we will take bites of each others dishes. :)
roboppy at 3:20PM on 07/31/07
Sharing is always welcome....my sister & I often order several different things with the understanding that they will be shared....usually just putting the dishes in the table in front of us. My husband & I rarely share....mainly because he's such a picky eater, he never likes anything I order!
mepolo at 1:17PM on 08/01/07
I find it revolting when people share food from their own plates. I thought it was my own little peculiarity until I went to France where they would no sooner share food from the same plate (or quel horreur from the same utensil!) at a restaurant than eat with their feet.
Dish at 1:25PM on 08/02/07