A few days ago, we were invited by our friends to go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
"Its going to be authentic Chinese food," my friend said.
"Authentic?" I asked. To me, all food that has "noodles" on the menu is authentic Chinese food.
"Yes," he said. "This restaurant is run by a Chinese family, and its all real authentic cuisine."
"Good," I said. "I'm all for it. Lets go."
Once we were there, I realized that my friend hadn't been kidding. It took about half an hour to order. The aroma in the restaurant was delicious and I couldn't wait to start. There was only one problem -- there were no forks, spoons or knives. Only chopsticks! And I don't know how to eat with chopsticks. And I was very, very hungry. My friends and my wife started eating, and they were managing well. And the food looked delicious. So I tried. But I wasn't very successful. I was chasing the food on the plate with my chopsticks more than eating it!
The waiter noticed my predicament and slid over with the necessary cutlery.
"Thanks," I said, "I am not good with chopsticks."
"I noticed," he smiled, "I am not either. I grew up here."
"I thought guests did not have the option of cutlery in this authentic Chinese restaurant," I said.
"We do make exceptions for certain guests ," he said, with a wink.
"For guests who are hopeless with chopsticks!" I laughed.
I came home and researched the history of chopsticks. I was amazed at the amount of material available on the net on how to use chopsticks. Most of it is funny, targeted at people who want to appear 'cool' by using chopsticks! Western civilization has moved on, and has adopted Chinese food, but not chopsticks. For those of you who want to be 'authentic', please copy and paste this URL clip in your browser. It is funny, but with a message.
http://www.kylemcdanell.com/2012/01/hump-day-humor-chopsticks-are-better.html
"I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder, kites and any number of other useful objects, and who have a noble history extending back 3,000 years haven't yet worked out that a pair of knitting needles is no way to capture food?!" ~Bill Bryson
.
