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There is a food craze of putting food directly on a table


Dirtyhip

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This idea horrifies me.  Some kids are doing nachos on a bed of tin foil, laid out directly on the table.  I just saw one for a polenta table and they poured the polenta, sauce, etc right on a wood table.  These ideas just look so gross and unappetizing.  Not trying to insult any cajun parties of the craw dad boils, etc.  It just isn't something that I would ever serve.  I like plates, platters, and a more refined way of serving food.  

Would you chow down at a party where everyone is putting their hands in the food as they eat and lick their fingers?  :unsure:   

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I have been to crab/craw fish boils where they did that on big tables.  They put plastic down first and had tongs so nobody was putting their hands on the food.  That and it’s pretty freaking hot.

I guess it would depend for me, nachos I don’t think so as the chips are interconnected by cheese but something like sushi where you only touch what you take would work.  Yeah and no fingers on the food, that would bug me.

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7 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

No. I agree with you. I think the idea dates back to Roman and / or older cultures, maybe Egyptian. A buffet is nice, but dumping the courses onto a central table seems primitive and unrefined. 

Primitive and unrefined, bingo.  Plating is part of the fun of putting things out.  Dumping on a table, no.  

I understand that certain cultures might do this.  It just isn't for me.  Likely this is dramatized for humor sakes.  :nodhead:

 

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5 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Your food was in a pan/pot, etc.  Totally different than this:

For sure, the food was in a pan. I was mostly responding to the idea of everyone putting their fingers into the pile. We all put our forks into the pan, into our mouths, into the pan…

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45 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

This idea horrifies me.  Some kids are doing nachos on a bed of tin foil, laid out directly on the table.  I just saw one for a polenta table and they poured the polenta, sauce, etc right on a wood table.  These ideas just look so gross and unappetizing.  Not trying to insult any cajun parties of the craw dad boils, etc.  It just isn't something that I would ever serve.  I like plates, platters, and a more refined way of serving food.  

Would you chow down at a party where everyone is putting their hands in the food as they eat and lick their fingers?  :unsure:   

We do crabs directly on the table, with newspaper or brown paper from a 3' wide roll laid on top of the table. Of course, that makes it easier to clean up the broken of the crab shells by lifting up the ends of the paper to make a bag and stuffing it in a plastic garbage bag (it will smell by the next day).

20180616_192207.thumb.jpg.214b19e26c1bc43e678b1ace74d7d24d.jpg

 

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I can't imagine eating food directly from the table.  I could possibly see having nachos on aluminum foil or something as a base.  I'm never thrilled with group food, and wouldn't do it with a big group of semi-strangers.  I might do it with family or close friends, but we'd probably try to split it first  or at least try to stay in our section. 

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2 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Your food was in a pan/pot, etc.  Totally different than this:

 

gross.jpg

I went to a crab boil in Maryland where the freshly steamed crab were on a central clean paper.  No problems with that.

I would suggest to everyone here:  when you eat at shared Asian meal where there are multiple shared central dishes, either you offer to get some serving spoon/big fork OR shared big set of chopsticks for each dish,etc. ..if bothers you.

If everyone at the table is competent with their chopstick use, and understands one only picks from the invisible small pie wedge in front of you, there really is no problem.  This is training for children in many Asian households.

*****I grew up where we just couldn't pass around a big bowl/plate of shared central dishes: either the child is too small to navigate it or there just wasn't enough room when we were all sitting packed around the dining/kitchen table for dinner.  we had no space for a separate dining rm. for a family of 8.

I'm just explaining etiquette if you should travel in Asia.

I don't agree dumping food on bare, uncleaned surfaces.  I don't get it and seems like the "children" (I can't imagine older folks doing this.) are kinda spoiled and very silly.

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Here is a Korean BBQ restaurant I went with 6 other family members in Toronto. You do use your own chopsticks to pick up your own BBQ pieces from the central table grill. Then Korean side dishes, bachan, were little serving spoons or forks.

It does helps alot to become competent with chopsticks for various Asian cuisines...picking up dim sum with chopsticks, etc.

A parent will remind a child to eat from their own invisible wedge from shared central dish....I'm just going by how I was raised as well how this training etiquette transfers through the generations.

 

bbq2022.jpg

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33 minutes ago, Kirby said:

I can't imagine eating food directly from the table.  I could possibly see having nachos on aluminum foil or something as a base.  I'm never thrilled with group food, and wouldn't do it with a big group of semi-strangers.  I might do it with family or close friends, but we'd probably try to split it first  or at least try to stay in our section. 

Me either.  The post I saw was a polenta dinner, and they poured it right on a wood table.  Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  

Maybe Covid era made me somewhat sensitive about people and their gross hands. 

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