My favourite Ann Landers article, I pointed out to my mother, who liked to
quote the paper, to my annoyance.

A reader had sent in a question: When is it improper to eat chicken with
your fingers?

Anns response: When it has been pureed.

Mom didn't laugh. I did- heartily.


"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote in message
...
> Becca wrote (I started a new thread):
>
>> My mother never allowed us children to eat with our hands. We had to use
>> utensils, if we wanted to eat. Her mother was the same way, and she was
>> French. I wondered where this came from. It is still difficult for me
>> to
>> eat foods like hot dogs or pizza, without using a fork.
>
> Ribs, tacos, egg rolls, and hot dogs are NOT AS GOOD if you don't eat them
> with your hands. Sushi is MEANT to be finger food; eating sushi with
> chopsticks is a sign of cultural ignorance. Many Indians will express a
> similar feeling regarding eating curry with rice: It's *better* if you eat
> with your hands.
>
> I'd never heard of the Italian aversion to eating with their hands before.
> Is the attitude taken because Italians don't want to get their hands
> dirty, or because they believe their hands *are* dirty, and they don't
> want to contaminate the food? (I note that hands are often the most
> pathogen-laden parts of the body, so I don't mean any ethnic slur by the
> second part of that question.)
>
> Bob, remembering that kili uses chopsticks to eat egg rolls