Chopsticks and Etiquette

When you are invited to a Chinese home for a meal, it is helpful to be aware of Chinese table manners, or etiquette. First, several dishes are placed in the center of the table. Wait until the host or the head of the family picks up his chopsticks and motions for all to start. That is the proper moment for the guests to acknowledge the invitation, pick up their chopsticks, and proceed.

Unlike some Western-style meals, the dishes are not passed around the table. Rather, all at the table help themselves. In a family meal, it is customary for each member to use his or her own pair of chopsticks to take pieces from the common dishes and put them right into the mouth. Even so, it is considered bad manners to slurp your food, lick the ends of your chopsticks, or pick through the dishes for your favorite piece. Mothers in the Orient instruct their children not to bite the ends of their chopsticks, not only because they are concerned about hygiene but also because it spoils the appearance of the chopsticks.

Out of consideration for guests, sometimes serving spoons or additional chopsticks are provided. These are used to take pieces from the center dishes to another dish or to your rice bowl. Still, do not be offended if your host uses his chopsticks to pick out a choice morsel and place it right into your bowl. After all, he wants to make sure that his honored guest gets the best piece!

It is considered bad manners to point with chopsticks, just as it is with knives and forks. It is equally bad manners to pick up something else while you still have your chopsticks in your hand. So when you need to use the serving spoon or to pick up a napkin or a teacup, first put down your chopsticks. Small, attractive chopstick stands are often provided for this purpose.

When you finish eating, put your chopsticks down neatly, sit back, and wait. It is bad manners to leave the table before everyone finishes. Once again, it is the host or the head of the family who brings the meal to a close by rising and inviting all to leave the table.

Now that you know how to use them, all you need to do is get some chopsticks and practice with them. The next time someone invites you to a Chinese restaurant or to their home for a Chinese meal, why not try a pair of the "quick ones"? It may even make the food taste better!

A Little Chopstick History

Some Chinese scholars believe that the first chopsticks were used, not for eating, but for cooking. Small pieces of raw food were wrapped in leaves, and sticks were used to transfer heated pebbles into the wrapping. In this way food could be cooked without the cook getting burned! Later in history, chopsticks were used to remove pieces of food from the cooking pot.

The Japanese, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, and others in the Orient also use chopsticks, and this is largely because of the influence of Chinese culture.

Geoff Cummings runs a kitchen products site at http://www.kitchenandhousewares.us where recipe books, gourmet food and more are on sale at discount prices.