Similarities and Differences on the Way People Eat Around the World

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES ON THE WAY PEOPLE EAT AROUND THE WORLD The ways people eat around the world are strongly connected to culture, tradition and geography. The ways people eat symbolize the traditional culture of the people. There are differences and similarities on the way people eat around the world. Where some countries may be lapse on their tableware setting and their table manners, others are extremely strict in how they eat in front of people. What each country has in common with the other is their need for eating on simple platters and plates. Each dish is always presented in a way that makes it look appetizing and accommodates for a comfortable way of eating, such as deep filled bowls for soups suitable for drinking use your hands, flat plates which are good for eating with your hands or using cutlery, and tiny tea cups which is customary for herbal tea. Besides, in this modern age, most of the people around the world usually use the western way of eating. This can be shown on a formal event, where people will use the spoon and fork to eat. The knife is only used when it is necessary to cut the food into smaller portions. For some countries, it was customary to eat with the right hand and to serve yourself all the food you need in one go. This method of eating is common in certain areas of South East Asia whereby the tableware is arranged neatly on the floor and people eat with their hands. It is also common to see people eat at the table without any cutlery, eating rice and curry using their hands. The setup of the tableware is not always essential, however what is important is the plate that they eat from and how the food is presented in clean bowls. In Japan, if you eat your noodle soup with a slurping noise, the chef will think that you cannot wait to try their food and really appreciate the effort they have made into cooking the dish. Whereas in China, if you finish every morsel of food on your plate, to them it means you have not had