s/o: incorrect food

[bugabean]

The "Mexican" food debate reminded me of something else that's only kinda related. How many of us have been presented with food that was new to us and not known how to eat it? How many of us have eaten food the "wrong" way? And how many of us have come up with our own new ways to eat new foods?

In Denmark, we have something called smørrebrød. This usually gets translated to "open-faced sandwiches" but it's not so simple. There are several different traditional toppings for smørrebrød and unspoken rules about what kinds of toppings go together, go on what kind of bread, etc. Most Danes will tell you to do whatever you want, but then snicker when you put remoulade on your shrimp instead of mayonnaise.

At first, I made an effort to eat it the "right" way, and now I'm just like, meh, I *like* the pork on wheat bread instead of rye, whaddyagonnadoaboutit? I mean, I'm glad I tried some traditional pairings, and some really are awfully good, but I just let people stare when I do it my way. My in-laws would probably die if they saw me putting leverpostej with bologna and cheese on an otherwise American-style sandwich, but it tastes good, so

I once saw a long online debate about the "right" way to eat sushi, and I couldn't help but think that as long as you're enjoying your sushi, you're eating it the right way.

[dulcemariamar]

I dont like Spanish tortilla that much anymore but I used to eat it with ketchup and that is like a crime here.

The Spanish tortilla is made of potatos and eggs so I couldnt understand why you wouldnt dip it in ketchup.

[anna7602]

This is funny (odd? coincidental?) because I just workshopped a piece of writing about the main character not knowing how to eat a certain fruit in a new country. Most people in the workshop went with it, but one girl kept saying "why wouldn't she just ASK someone? I find this character very annoying."

I actually think it would be common to kind of go-with-the-flow and try to pretend you know what you're doing. But perhaps the answers to this post will prove me wrong.

Anyway, my first "incorrect" eating experience occurred in the U.S. I had just met DH's parents for the first time, who are two tried and true deep Southerners, and we were having breakfast in Memphis, Tennessee. I ordered grits, something I had never eaten before in my life, and ate them absolutely plain. My future MIL asked, "don't you want to add butter or salt to them?" and I responded, "oh, no, I always eat them just like this!"

We all still laugh about this.

[dorothyinAus]

I know I do not eat sushi "correctly." I have a small mouth and most rolls are too large for me to eat whole, and I find you cannot bite through the nori. I ask for a knife and fork and eat my sushi in delicate cut bites. People look at me strangely, but I don't care -- it's a case of do what you have to.

I also cut my long pasta, rather than twirling around a fork. My Italian FIL's family gave me a few strange looks, but said nothing.

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 5:25:02 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I dont like Spanish tortilla that much anymore but I used to eat it with ketchup and that is like a crime here.

The Spanish tortilla is made of potatos and eggs so I couldnt understand why you wouldnt dip it in ketchup.

I like my Spanish tortillas with ketchup, too. Moroccan harissa also goes very well with them.

That said, the best accompaniment is a tomato & garlic concotion one of my cousins in Madrid uses. I forget the proportion of garlic to tomato, but it's super garlicky and actually much more delicious than just plain ketchup. But, since I don't always have fresh tomatoes lying around my kitchen, ketchup makes a tasty addition when I'm just making a tortilla at home.

[popcorn]

Jun 4, 2012 5:25:02 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I dont like Spanish tortilla that much anymore but I used to eat it with ketchup and that is like a crime here.

The Spanish tortilla is made of potatos and eggs so I couldnt understand why you wouldnt dip it in ketchup.

I always slather copious amounts of Orlando brava sauce all over my tortilla. MMMM.

That was kind of going to be my thing. I add sauces and spice to many things I eat and my ILs think I'm nuts because a food should only have what is in the ingredient list. Condiments are not often used in Spain. Or spices. They didn't even have pepper in the house until I bought it while we were temporarily living there.

[ktkl09]

I don't like to eat things together, this leads me to pulling apart sandwiches and eating it by ingredient by ingredient then the bread or by eating the vegetables in my pasta dish first, then the pasta and eating the toppings off of pizza first. I do it with every single food, even desserts. It's weird, I know but I don't like things mixed.

Anyway, most of the time I just get weird looks (my friends, family and DH know that its normal and don't even notice), but once when I had dinner with an Italian friend, he was really upset that I wouldn't eat the pasta + vegetables in one bite. He kept saying "You American! No table rules!". hahah.

[bugabean]

I prefer to watch what everyone else is doing instead of ask how to eat something, or at least I'll watch them and see if I can figure it out before I ask. This proved problematic when I moved here because my ILs seem to think it's important for guests to be the first to get their food, so they'd make a point of handing me the serving fork/spoon first and then everyone would stare at me while I got the food, and they'd watch me try it to see if I liked it. I'm not comfortable with this kind of spotlight even if I know how to eat something, but when they're shoving food at me I've never seen before and I don't even know how much to scoop onto my plate and whether I'm supposed to put it on top of that other thing or not, it's kinda stressful.

[ktkl09]

Normally if I just come across something I don't know how to eat I just ask "How do I eat this?" or if's a matter of what it is served with, I ask: "What do you eat this with/serve this with?". And then if I don't like it, If I want to eat how I want it, I do that in private .

I think hot sauce + fondue is not allowed in Switzerland, but DH and I always have this combination and he's Swiss! Sometimes the others just need to try the "your" way to see how delicious it can be!

[ninjatofu]

Apparently only the mentally deficient put soy sauce on rice in China.

Also, I once drank a cup of gravy there, thinking it was some sort of gross tea.

We also got crazy looks if we ate pizza with our hands.

[bugabean]

Oh yeah, Danes eat nearly everything with a knife and fork. I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to eat a burger or a pizza with a knife and fork. If it's a huge, difficult burger, I'll cut it in half, but then I'm going to pick half of it up and eat it with my hands. That's how I roll.

[frlcb]

Jun 4, 2012 5:28:49 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

This is funny (odd? coincidental?) because I just workshopped a piece of writing about the main character not knowing how to eat a certain fruit in a new country. Most people in the workshop went with it, but one girl kept saying "why wouldn't she just ASK someone? I find this character very annoying."

I actually think it would be common to kind of go-with-the-flow and try to pretend you know what you're doing. But perhaps the answers to this post will prove me wrong.

Anyway, my first "incorrect" eating experience occurred in the U.S. I had just met DH's parents for the first time, who are two tried and true deep Southerners, and we were having breakfast in Memphis, Tennessee. I ordered grits, something I had never eaten before in my life, and ate them absolutely plain. My future MIL asked, "don't you want to add butter or salt to them?" and I responded, "oh, no, I always eat them just like this!"

We all still laugh about this.

I live in the South and don't put butter or salt on grits, but I also don't make grits, I only get them at restaurants.

[Deleted]

I was never able to use chop sticks, which means that whenever we go to our favourite Vietnamese place or some other no-forks here asian restaurant, I'm the only sucker that asks for a fork... Not my fault if I really can't manage!


I can't think of any other episodes but I've seen people do some pretty painful things in the attempt to cook an Italian dish... Like putting the pasta in the water before it boils... Nooooooooooooo

[popcorn]

Jun 4, 2012 6:49:01 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jun 4, 2012 5:28:49 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

This is funny (odd? coincidental?) because I just workshopped a piece of writing about the main character not knowing how to eat a certain fruit in a new country. Most people in the workshop went with it, but one girl kept saying "why wouldn't she just ASK someone? I find this character very annoying."

I actually think it would be common to kind of go-with-the-flow and try to pretend you know what you're doing. But perhaps the answers to this post will prove me wrong.

Anyway, my first "incorrect" eating experience occurred in the U.S. I had just met DH's parents for the first time, who are two tried and true deep Southerners, and we were having breakfast in Memphis, Tennessee. I ordered grits, something I had never eaten before in my life, and ate them absolutely plain. My future MIL asked, "don't you want to add butter or salt to them?" and I responded, "oh, no, I always eat them just like this!"

We all still laugh about this.

I live in the South and don't put butter or salt on grits, but I also don't make grits, I only get them at restaurants.

I love to make grits, but I put cheese in mine. So tasty!

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2012 7:21:42 GMT -5 @publius said:

Jun 4, 2012 7:11:43 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

I can't think of any other episodes but I've seen people do some pretty painful things in the attempt to cook an Italian dish... Like putting the pasta in the water before it boils... Nooooooooooooo

Have you ever seen a German make spaghetti kit from a box? I'll go ahead and assume that it would give you a coronary.

LOL oh it totally would!
The menus are seriously off limits for me! I read mozzarella di bufalo and inside I'm screaming BUFALAAAAAA
It's crazy I know, please don't hate me
A million times I've told my local Whole Foods how to spell prosciutto San Daniele. And there they are still spelling it San DANIELLE .... @z&$/6/):?.&!?$/!!!!!
The poor saint's name was Daniel, dammit!
Ok now I need a drink.

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 7:17:30 GMT -5 popcorn said:

Jun 4, 2012 6:49:01 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I live in the South and don't put butter or salt on grits, but I also don't make grits, I only get them at restaurants.

I love to make grits, but I put cheese in mine. So tasty!

I put lots of things in them now- cheese, a scrambled egg, rock shrimp, roasted peppers, and yes, even just salt and butter.

But grits with absolutely no seasoning- blech.

[GilliC]

Whenever possible, I eat hamburgers here with my hands. I let people stare. The damn sandwich was invented to be picked up, and by golly, that's how I'm going to eat it!
...Until it falls apart, because the Norwegian chef never dreamed that someone would actually try to pick the thing up.

I also apparently eat sushi the "wrong" way:
1. I feel like a gluttonous pig if I put a whole piece in my mouth at once, so I eat it in two bites. Usually I at least try to keep the second bite on my chopsticks, and if I have to set it down (or drop it because it's falling apart), I will do so on my own dish.
2. I dip the rice side in soy sauce instead of the fish side. Flipping it over to dip fish-side first is just asking for disaster, so screw it.
3. After separating my cheap wooden chopsticks, I rub them together for the splinters. I've read remarks about how a "proper" sushi restaurant would never give you chopsticks that would splinter, but you know what? My local Thai-run take-away sushi joint uses cheap chopsticks, and they do splinter. (Though usually I keep a pair of chopsticks in my purse, because disposable chopsticks are one of the leading causes of deforestation in China.)

[bugabean]

Jun 4, 2012 7:49:56 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

Jun 4, 2012 7:21:42 GMT -5 @publius said:

Have you ever seen a German make spaghetti kit from a box? I'll go ahead and assume that it would give you a coronary.

LOL oh it totally would!
The menus are seriously off limits for me! I read mozzarella di bufalo and inside I'm screaming BUFALAAAAAA
It's crazy I know, please don't hate me
A million times I've told my local Whole Foods how to spell prosciutto San Daniele. And there they are still spelling it San DANIELLE .... @z&$/6/):?.&!?$/!!!!!
The poor saint's name was Daniel, dammit!
Ok now I need a drink.

So… REAL lasagna… is it with bechemel, with ricotta, or none of the above?

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2012 8:46:06 GMT -5 bugabean said:

Jun 4, 2012 7:49:56 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

So… REAL lasagna… is it with bechemel, with ricotta, or none of the above?

Bechamel all the way! Hmmmmmmmm

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2012 8:26:36 GMT -5 @publius said:

Jun 4, 2012 7:49:56 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

LOL oh it totally would!

You mix the packaged tomato paste type stuff that's in the box with the spaghetti with butter. That makes the sauce.

mix butter with tomato??? Nooooooooo
LOL

[clogged]

I eat Dutch sanwiches wrong.

My way: bread, sandwich soread, 2 slices cheese, enough meat slices to cover entire slice, veg of some sort, another slice of bread, eat.

Dutch way: slice of bread and only ONE of the above. Eat open face.

I did not know this and my first lunch at a friend's house HORRIFIED them. We were never invited back. I find it funny to know that my sandwich options are swoon-inducingly rude.

[elenetxu]

Jun 4, 2012 5:25:02 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I dont like Spanish tortilla that much anymore but I used to eat it with ketchup and that is like a crime here.

The Spanish tortilla is made of potatos and eggs so I couldnt understand why you wouldnt dip it in ketchup.

Because it's socially acceptable to smother it in mayo instead! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[Cheesecake]

Jun 4, 2012 7:49:56 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

Jun 4, 2012 7:21:42 GMT -5 @publius said:

Have you ever seen a German make spaghetti kit from a box? I'll go ahead and assume that it would give you a coronary.

LOL oh it totally would!
The menus are seriously off limits for me! I read mozzarella di bufalo and inside I'm screaming BUFALAAAAAA
It's crazy I know, please don't hate me
A million times I've told my local Whole Foods how to spell prosciutto San Daniele. And there they are still spelling it San DANIELLE .... @z&$/6/):?.&!?$/!!!!!
The poor saint's name was Daniel, dammit!
Ok now I need a drink.

Hehe, how ofteb since you've lived in the US have you corrected saying eXpresso?? That always makes me want to pull my hair out.

I have fat fingers, please excuse typos!

[tktravels]

This thread brings back some fun food memories.

The first time I had edamame, I did not know that you are not supposed to eat the pod. I popped the whole thing in my mouth and just started chewing. Edamame is so much better when you just eat the beans.

The first time I had tamales, I did not know that you were supposed to unwrap it and eat it's innards (and not the corn husk). Again, so much better when you just eat the inside!

I've also always eaten sushi wrong, because it is how I prefer it. I pick up a piece and set it, rice side down, in the soy sauce. I then place a healthy portion of wasabi paste on top of the piece, and then place ginger on top of the wasabi, and then pop the whole thing in my mouth. If my sinuses are not being cleared and I don't have soy sauce dripping down my chin, I'm not having a good time. I should be embarrassed, but in all honesty, I couldn't care less.

[Wanderista]

I also eat sushi with some faux pas a lot of the time. I will sometimes eat the sushi by swallowing it whole in one bite. (That does sound a bit rude, hehe). But yeah, sometimes I just want to savor it by eating it in bites. Also, I definitely dunk the nigiri in the wrong way. I use way more soy sauce than I'm supposed to and I love adding wasabi to the soy sauce rather than putting it straight on the piece. Supposedly that's the Californian way to eat it (wasabi in the soy sauce). I just like it better.

I do love using chopsticks though. Weirdly enough, I'm better at holding chopsticks than a knife and fork. It's kind of random but I never hold silverware correctly. I also hold pens incorrectly and I often write letters of the alphabet by forming those letters in a different way than how you are supposed to. I drove my elementary teachers nuts as they tried to correct me. Eventually, I learned how to mimic other peoples' letters and now I have very legible handwriting but I still form the letters "my way".

I love to eat with my hands whenever I can.

[allibally]

We were on the bus yesterday coming home from the beach and we went be an Ethopian-Chinese Restaurant.

Curiosity has been killing me since we drove by yesterday.

[loveday]

I get made fun of for eating my pizza and chicken wings with a knife and fork lol

[anna7602]

Jun 4, 2012 16:30:36 GMT -5 allibally said:

We were on the bus yesterday coming home from the beach and we went be an Ethopian-Chinese Restaurant.

Curiosity has been killing me since we drove by yesterday.

You need to go and report back!

[allibally]

Jun 4, 2012 17:24:48 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 4, 2012 16:30:36 GMT -5 allibally said:

We were on the bus yesterday coming home from the beach and we went be an Ethopian-Chinese Restaurant.

Curiosity has been killing me since we drove by yesterday.

You need to go and report back!

We just don't go out much so I don't know if we will ever get to it. But I did find the restaurant online and the menu.

chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/lake-langano/menu
www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/04/02/one-bite-false-banana-bread-at-an-ethio-chinese-joint

[tktravels]

Jun 4, 2012 23:29:34 GMT -5 allibally said:

Jun 4, 2012 17:24:48 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

You need to go and report back!

We just don't go out much so I don't know if we will ever get to it. But I did find the restaurant online and the menu.

chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/lake-langano/menu
www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/04/02/one-bite-false-banana-bread-at-an-ethio-chinese-joint

Let us know how it is if you end up going! This is my old stomping grounds!