How Do/Will You Eat at Home?

[♥JP♥ 5]

We dont share anything. Food is always set out family style in the middle of the table and everyone eats out of their own plate.

[Nagishkaw 510]

AWWWWWWWW

don't you just love that?

We probably will not share, but we have taken turns feeding each other.

Yeah, it's kinda romantic .

[Imua 0]

We probably will not share, but we have taken turns feeding each other.

Same with me and Govi - even in restaurants - love it!! There are several photos of me and Govi feeding each other and in the Hindu wedding there is a part where you feed each other.

It is interesting since I have never traveled in MENA and wasn't aware of this custom - I think my Nepali ILs would be horrified since it goes TOTALLY against Nepali Hindu ideas of 'purity' - even in a family everyone has their own glass and plate, and if you share a bottle or glass you drink so your lips don't touch it - with my lack of depth perception this trick is very hard for me so I only drink water this way -with soda or juice that I am afraid to get all over my front I insist on my own bottle or glass.

One of the things I enjoy about VJ is learning about different cultures - fascinating.

AWWWWWWWW

don't you just love that?

We probably will not share, but we have taken turns feeding each other.

Yeah, it's kinda romantic .

Very much so.

[chaishai 1]

i was freaked out in morocco with the plate sharing and i will not share my drink with ANYONE not even my husband. barely my kids. i will give my son my drink and then just let him have it because i see him backwashing. i get so grossed out by it all. im too uptight, right?

my MIL is tunisian and when we go out for the day she always wants to share water bottles and i get so grossed out by it but never want to hurt her feelings.

oh and does anyone have the "honey taste" issue where husband makes something and then proceeds to shove it in your mouth because you have to taste it then and there? makes me nuts!

[Nasturtium 500]

We dont share anything. Food is always set out family style in the middle of the table and everyone eats out of their own plate.

The only time I ever saw people eating off the same thing was mensef, and then, of course, it was the rice and everyone had their own piece of meat. Is there anything else that is ever communal? I went over to ONE house and ONE house only where one of the girls tore my chicken up for me because I wasn't eating it fast enough. I wasn't eating it because I didn't want any chicken! Ammar got a weird look on his face when i told him and said this was a really old and outdated custom.

[Nasturtium 500]

i was freaked out in morocco with the plate sharing and i will not share my drink with ANYONE not even my husband. barely my kids. i will give my son my drink and then just let him have it because i see him backwashing. i get so grossed out by it all. im too uptight, right?

my MIL is tunisian and when we go out for the day she always wants to share water bottles and i get so grossed out by it but never want to hurt her feelings.

oh and does anyone have the "honey taste" issue where husband makes something and then proceeds to shove it in your mouth because you have to taste it then and there? makes me nuts!

No. If I ever saw Ammar backwashing I would NEVER share with him lol. He has their weird way of drinking where he doesn't touch the glass too much-- only with his bottom lip. He sort of pours into his mouth.

Yesterday Ammar made me dinner and he asked me to taste his tomato sauce, egg and bread together. I did it, knowing i would not like it, and I think by the look on my face he knew better than to ask again.

[doodlebugg 10]

my husband de-shells leb for me and feeds me it.

[PetraPerson101 0]

Here's how our family does it - everyone who's here in the US - ( uncles, aunts, cousins, etc )

Prep the big meal - get the sedr (36-40" platter) out - set it up. Plop it down in the middle of the table.

Everyone gets their own plate, fork, spoon, and bread. Toss a serving spoon on the plate - and grab your food. Use your own plate - and eat with your bare hands if you want to.

Seems like the same thing they do in Amman and stuff - so - it's carried.

---

People there don't backwash into the cup- it's like spitting in food.

I think the water cup sharing is from tradition - old custom. It's desert there in ME - so - there's like ... no water.

Bedouins would carry around a water-hide - and a cup or two - and share sparingly. ( Why drag around a dozen cups and a huge water thing, when you got no water? )

Notice how when we serve tea- everyone gets their own cup.

Edited May 5, 2008 by KyanWan

[sarahaziz 0]

I don't like sharing same cups or plates. Going out at restaurants we half up the food onto each others plates so we both get a taste. Getting that intimate is unnecessary in my opinion I don't like it. Like my father, he does do the shoving thing if it tastes good to him he just has to force me to try it.

[RAKASA 0]

I'm not sure what the customs are in other MENA countries, but in Morocco, the family eats from the same plate. I was just curious whether you do this at home with your SO (and children if applicable) or plan to when he/she arrives, or if you will adopt an "American style" of sharing meals.

For us, when we eat Moroccan food we share a plate, but with other cuisines we use separate plates.

We pretty much do the same as you Jenn. We eat out of the tagine when we're eating Moroccan, but I usually use a fork (just b/c I'm trying not to eat so much bread) and he eats w/ the bread. If we're eating most other cuisines, it's separate plates. We often have our own water glasses, but share if need be. When in Morocco, MIL would break up the meat in the couscous or the tagine and push it towards each person - I always seemed to have some in front of me!

[♥JP♥ 5]

We dont share anything. Food is always set out family style in the middle of the table and everyone eats out of their own plate.

The only time I ever saw people eating off the same thing was mensef, and then, of course, it was the rice and everyone had their own piece of meat. Is there anything else that is ever communal? I went over to ONE house and ONE house only where one of the girls tore my chicken up for me because I wasn't eating it fast enough. I wasn't eating it because I didn't want any chicken! Ammar got a weird look on his face when i told him and said this was a really old and outdated custom.

Yeah thats even common here. When eating mansaf, its the ultimate form of respect when the hosts shred up the best pieces of meat with their hands and serve it to the guests. They do it with plenty of other things too though and I must say, I don't care for that practice at all.

The only other communal dish besides mansaf would be dawali (grapeleaves) which if the platter is large enough I often see people standing around and eating them with their hands. But those are more like finger food and that doesnt really disgust me.

[Jenn! 918]

Thanks for all the responses! It's been interesting.

I have to admit that when it's just Wadi and I, I like sharing. The more people there are though, the less appetizing it becomes.

We'll be taking my family to visit his family in Morocco and I don't think my family is going to be amenable to the communal plate.

I wonder if people get sick more often in Morocco than they do here because of all the sharing. Or if they're more resistant because of it.

[Nasturtium 500]

Thanks for all the responses! It's been interesting.

I have to admit that when it's just Wadi and I, I like sharing. The more people there are though, the less appetizing it becomes.

We'll be taking my family to visit his family in Morocco and I don't think my family is going to be amenable to the communal plate.

I wonder if people get sick more often in Morocco than they do here because of all the sharing. Or if they're more resistant because of it.

I don't think you'd really catch much sharing food off of a common plate. Sharing glasses is a different thing. I would think they would all be more resistant to a lot of things, but also catch some of the more contagious illnesses faster than us-- but then probably kick them faster. it's like the open sewer issue we used ot have. kids, etc got a lot less common illnesses when there were open sewers (this is not to confuse the issue of vaccines-- most childhood illnesses which cause death are now dealt with with vaccines or antibiotics, etc). After they closed them up, there was a spike in certain illnesses like polio. OTOH, there was an obvious decline in things like cholera. I imagine sharing a glass and such would give you an increase in the spread of cold sores and canker sores (herpes) but a decline in some of the more common illnesses or severity of them.

[PetraPerson101 0]

The more people there are though, the less appetizing it becomes.

We'll be taking my family to visit his family in Morocco and I don't think my family is going to be amenable to the communal plate.

I wonder if people get sick more often in Morocco than they do here because of all the sharing. Or if they're more resistant because of it.

Who knows. But don't look at me on food sharing.

I'm the kind of person who drops something on the floor in the house "Aww man ... but it's so good ... "

*looks one way*

*looks the other*

*shrug*

*gulp*

[ edit : we don't wear shoes in the house, so it's 50% less gross. ]

Edited May 6, 2008 by KyanWan

[abdo 0]

For us, when we eat Moroccan food we share a plate..

me and my fiancee love the communal plate sharing,she likes MOROCCO and she likes the way we live and eat..

march-2008 she became muslim.

Abdo