15 International Food Etiquette Rules
That Might Surprise You
Sometimes when you see people staring at your during a meal in a foreign country, it may not be because they recognize you as a tourist. Table manners are as unique to a culture as the food you eat. However the rules may not be as easy to understand. Here, 15 etiquette rules you should know before you travel.
In
Thailand
Instead, when eating
a dish with cooked rice, use your fork only to push food onto your spoon. A few
exceptions: Some northern and northeastern Thai dishes are typically eaten with
the hands—you'll know you've encountered such a dish if the rice used is
glutinous or "sticky." Also, stand-alone items that are not part of a
rice-based meal may be eaten with a fork. But, says Leela Punyaratabandhu, a
food writer, the worst thing to do at a traditional, rice-based meal would be
to use chopsticks. "That is awkward and inconvenient at best and tacky at
worst," she says.
In
Japan
Between bites, your
chopsticks should be placed together right in front of you, parallel to the
edge of the table—and nowhere else, says Mineko Takane Moreno, Japanese cooking
instructor and co-author of Sushi for Dummies.
(If there is a chopsticks rest, you use it, putting the tips you've been eating
with on the rest.) But sticking them upright in a bowl of rice is even worse:
During funerals in Japan
In
the Middle East, India and
parts of Africa , don't eat with your left hand.
In South
India , you shouldn't even touch the plate with your left hand
while eating. That's largely because the left hand is associated with bodily
functions, so it's considered to be dirty.
At
a traditional feast in Georgia
At what Georgians
call a supra (traditional
feast), wine is drunk only at
toasts. So wait for those... and then down the whole glass at once. But don’t
worry, the glasses tend to be small.
In
Mexico
Worried about
spilling refried beans and salsa all over your front? Well don’t worry about it because Mexicans
think that eating tacos with a fork and knife looks silly and, worse,
snobby—kind of like eating a burger with silverware. So be polite: Eat with
your hands.
In
Italy
Some Italians say
that a late-day cappuccino upsets your stomach, others that it's a replacement
for a meal as it is common to have a cappuccino and a croissant, for breakfast.
Either way, you won't see Italians ordering one in a café at 3 p.m.—and
certainly not after a big dinner. Do so, and you'll be instantly branded a
tourist. If you need that coffee fix, an espresso is fine.
It's unclear why
passing port on the left is so important.
Regardless, passing the decanter to the right is a big no-no. So is not
passing it at all. If you're at a meal and the decanter stalls, then ask the
person with it, "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" If they say they
don't know him, reply, "He's a very good chap, but he always forgets to
pass the port." It sounds weird, but it's true
In France
Instead, eat it as an
accompaniment to your food or with the cheese course at the end of the meal.
That said, one thing that would be a faux pas anywhere else—placing bread
directly on the table and not on a plate—is perfectly acceptable in France
In China
Although you might be
used to flipping over a whole fish once you've finished one side, don't—at
least not when you're in China, especially southern China and Hong Kong. That's
because flipping the fish is dao yue in Chinese, a phrase similar to bad
luck or saying that the fisherman's boat is going to capsize." You can either leave the bottom part untouched
or pull off the bone itself to get to the bottom.
In Italy
Putting parmigiano
on pizza is seen as a sin, like putting Jell-O on a fine chocolate mousse. And
many pasta dishes in Italy
Don't eat anything,
even fries, with your hands at a meal in Chile
Manners here are a
little more formal than many other South American countries. So while it might
be the most practical to just pick up those fries with your fingers, don't do
it.
In Korea
Doing so is a sign of
respect for elders, an important tenet of Korean culture. After receiving the
pour with both hands, you should turn your head away and take a discreet sip,
says Stephen Cha-Kim, a Korean-born worker's rights advocate. Similarly, don't
start eating until the eldest male has done so and don't leave the table until
that person is finished.
Never mix—or turn down—vodka
in Russia
The beverage is
always drunk neat—and no, not even with ice. Adding anything is seen as
polluting the drink's purity. But the
worst thing to do when offered a drink is to turn it down. So even if it is 9 a.m. accept it because it
is a sign of trust and friendship.
When drinking coffee
with Bedouins in the Middle East , shake the
cup at the end.
Typically, anyone
Bedouin—or Bedouin-related—will continue to pour you more coffee once you've
finished unless you shake the cup, meaning tilting the cup two or three times,
when you hand it back. It's such an important tip, says Middle East-based
freelance correspondent Haley Sweetland Edwards, that last year, Bedouins she
was eating with in Qatar
In Brazil
At a churrascaria,
or a Brazilian steakhouse, servers circle with cuts of meat and diners use
tokens to place an order. If a server comes out with something you want, make
sure your token, which you'll have at your table, has the green side up. If you
don't want any more, flip it with the red side up. Since the meat can be
never-ending, it's important to strategize—if you leave that token green side
up you could end up ordering a lot more than you intended.
