Eating in Abundance
An illustration of various dishes in round pots and bowls, with brown hands breaking flatbread in two at the forefront. Illustration: Monica Keeler
Words by Kanika Chopra.
The ability to use our hands is a privilege and is a vital part of who we are. They’re a medium through which we connect with other people; a handshake, holding the hand of someone you love, gesturing to convey emotion, squeezing the hand of someone you are trying to reassure, getting head scratches for comfort, and they even form their own language. Why then is eating with our hands looked upon as such an unrefined way of consuming food? Food is sustenance, and we use our hands to create sustenance. People farm the food, pick the vegetables, raise the animals, clean, wash, and prepare a meal. All these steps toward sustenance come from using our hands as a tool, but why then does it stop there?
I grew up in Mumbai which is a melting pot of cultures. Being North Indian we ate a lot of roti and often with a sabzi (vegetable), dal and a piece of fried fish since we lived on the coast. Eating with my hands was almost exclusively the only option. How else do you pick up the sabzi with the roti? How else would you debone the fish? When I went to my friends’ homes that were South Indian, I loved watching how they’d eat such soupy rice meals out of a plate with their hands so immaculately. Their fingers would work in harmony with the rassam as it pooled in the centre of the rice on their plate. It formed a little reservoir of flavour. My friend’s mother was once feeding him in front of me and she formed perfect rice ladoos so that he would see there were only three bites left of his meal, which he really shouldn’t waste.
When I moved to Melbourne in 2016, I didn’t pay attention to the fact that people didn’t eat with their hands until I was on a date once. We went to an Indian restaurant – I ordered naans, paneer karahi and some chicken kebabs. Paying no attention to how my date was consuming their food, I heard them say “is that how you eat this?”. “Of course,” I said. In my head there was no other way to consume this food. It was only after this, did I start to notice that most people in the Western world don’t eat with their hands, even when the type of food they’re eating is meant to be eaten by hand. Gayan Pieris, executive chef at Red Hill’s Sri Lankan-inspired diner Many Little Bar and Dining concurs. He finds that he’s continuously trying to encourage people in his restaurant to use their hands instead of cutlery. “It’s kinda getting there,” he said. “It’s a journey, its not going to happen overnight — there is a big cultural barrier there. I serve a thaali…thats the main event on our set menu. I didn’t want to serve cutlery with it but then I had to back off. I think Australia is not there yet, but I'm pretty [damn] sure we will be there in the next few years.”.
There was some colonial shame from time to time about this when I’d choose to eat with my hands whether in public or at a dinner party, depending on the food of course. But I quite enjoyed watching people get uncomfortable or catch them peeking over their own plates to see how I was eating. People from cultures that eat with their hands often use cutlery in mixed company so that they aren’t othered, and because they just want to feel included. The discomfort of using our hands to eat as opposed to tools comes from the fact that British and other European colonisers imposed their mentalities on food consumption on the world, however the custom of doing it still lives on and with good reason.
It is still prevalent in South Asian, African, Arabic and Oaxacan cuisines to eat with your hands. There are different etiquettes that come with this, and they mostly overlap with one another. For example, washing your hands is an important custom before you start eating. Most countries also use their index and middle fingers to pick food up and use their thumb to push it into their mouths while avoiding putting your fingers into your mouth. It is also culturally improper to eat using your left-hand as it is considered unsacred in many cultures for superstitious reasons, and in other cultures it is the hand used to clean yourself.
Similarly, breads are used across cultures to scoop up wet and dry dishes, like in South Asia where naan, roti, parathas, a variety of dosas or appams play host to curries. In Central and Southern Africa, fufu is served with meat, soups and vegetable dishes, like injera in East Africa and tortillas in Mexico.
Flatbreads like pita are used for dips and meats across the Middle East, where it is also popular to share a meal with a group from one large plate. It is a way to bond with those around you, and eat from your part of the plate until you’re content. This is designed to be a mindful practice and a way to avoid overeating.
In European countries using cutlery is the most prevalent method of eating, other than when it comes to bread-based items. The reasoning behind that is because breaking one’s bread is the easiest, most practical way to consume it. The same practicality goes with eating roti, rice and other foods. It is easier and has many benefits, but is still somehow not treated as a meaningful and conscious way of consuming food when People of Colour do it with their own native meals.
In India, eating with your hands is supposed to engage all your senses with your food and connect you to the different elements. This was first written in the Vedas where different fingers represent the different elements. The thumb corresponds to fire, the index finger to air, the middle finger to ether, the ring finger to earth, and the pinky finger to water. Vedic science also explained that using our hands goes beyond just smelling, seeing and tasting our food but also allows us to explore the texture and temperature which help us create more satisfying mouthfuls for our own tastes. Science has also found that using our hands to eat promotes better digestion and protection from external bacteria due to the proteins and flora that exist on our palms and fingertips*
Some of my fondest memories surrounding food involve the use of my hands directly – or the use of my mother’s hands (I really enjoy it when she feeds me fish curry and rice without a spoon). Not only has it been a way for me to bond with my food but also with my family. I also firmly stand by the fact that food from most cuisines can be eaten with your hands if you just believe that you can do it – I know I do. It is an opportunity to connect with yourself, your senses and your meal. Using our hands to eat is the closest I believe we can get to eating in abundance, not of quantity but quality and for our soul.