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Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Workers of the World, Eat!
Everywhere around the world, people recognize that
eating is a social event, but I have never been anywhere where this is more true
than in China.
The whole way that people eat reinforces social
interaction. To start with, everyone shares food from communal plates; you don't
have a portion that's exclusively yours. When you have to take turns, you're
always paying more attention to what other people are doing. Having everyone's
attention focused on the same dishes also leads to the sharing of conversation
and thoughts.
This is especially true when eating hot pot. For most other meals, you have an assortment of plates to choose from; with hot pot, everything is tossed into the same boiling bowl in the middle of the table.
Last night, at a hot pot dinner, ten of us shared a bowl of opaque broth, brimming with meats, tofu, and vegetables. Everyone took turns fishing out the pieces they wanted, but they also passed out pieces that they thought others would enjoy. Once word spread that we were vegetarians, our dinner companions kept putting choice bits in our bowl; wild mushrooms, special bean noodles, sliced lotus root. When the much-coveted chicken head emerged from the bubbling stew, appearing like the prize in the Cracker Jacks box, it was awarded to our friend Zhou Xueying.
After a while, when the obvious good stuff was picked over, people took turns dredging up muck from the bottom of the bowl, using the tool we think of as a wok stirrer, but which the Chinese call, more accurately in this case, a shovel. As the food emerged, the digger would hold the shovel out for all of us to pick up the bits we wanted. In exchange for this service, someone would select a choice morsel from the pile and put it into the bowl of the shovel holder.
I once read that children in post-revolutionary Chinese kindergarten wore smocks that buttoned up the back, instead of up the front. Buttoning the smock was too difficult for one child to do alone, so the children depended on the help of their classmates to get dressed. The golden rule became an everyday reality before the teachers even spoke their first words.
Whether or not this is true, the lesson was learned and cooperation now rules, at least at the dinner table.
This is especially true when eating hot pot. For most other meals, you have an assortment of plates to choose from; with hot pot, everything is tossed into the same boiling bowl in the middle of the table.
Last night, at a hot pot dinner, ten of us shared a bowl of opaque broth, brimming with meats, tofu, and vegetables. Everyone took turns fishing out the pieces they wanted, but they also passed out pieces that they thought others would enjoy. Once word spread that we were vegetarians, our dinner companions kept putting choice bits in our bowl; wild mushrooms, special bean noodles, sliced lotus root. When the much-coveted chicken head emerged from the bubbling stew, appearing like the prize in the Cracker Jacks box, it was awarded to our friend Zhou Xueying.
After a while, when the obvious good stuff was picked over, people took turns dredging up muck from the bottom of the bowl, using the tool we think of as a wok stirrer, but which the Chinese call, more accurately in this case, a shovel. As the food emerged, the digger would hold the shovel out for all of us to pick up the bits we wanted. In exchange for this service, someone would select a choice morsel from the pile and put it into the bowl of the shovel holder.
I once read that children in post-revolutionary Chinese kindergarten wore smocks that buttoned up the back, instead of up the front. Buttoning the smock was too difficult for one child to do alone, so the children depended on the help of their classmates to get dressed. The golden rule became an everyday reality before the teachers even spoke their first words.
Whether or not this is true, the lesson was learned and cooperation now rules, at least at the dinner table.
Posted: Mon - April 26, 2004 at 02:06 AM