Do you eat with your hands?

[citymama]

Multiple choice poll coming - what's your view on eating with your hands?

I suspect this is another culturally divided issue (like wearing shoes in the house or no-gifts parties) but I'm curious what the views are on this board.

[MMMommy]

I eat certain foods with my hands-

fried chicken
crab
watermelon/big slices of fruit
finger foods

[citymama]

Seinfeld comes to mind - remember Elaine's boss who ate candy bars on a plate with a fork and knife? And then George does the same thing to impress his boss (or was it a date)? :ROTFLMAO:

I love eating with my hands and am clumsy with silverware.

I always eat using my (clean, just washed) hands:
corn on the cob, pizza, most kinds of whole fruit, egg rolls, skewers, many kinds of dim sum, Indian food, tacos, burritos, sandwiches (I am vegetarian)

I've even been known to eat salad with my hands (at home only!)!

However, I am way restrained in restaurants/public since I know not everyone shares the same views as me, and truthfully, I'm not crazy about seeing other people eat with their hands in public either!

[Trigglet]

Food that just tastes better when eaten with your hands:

Curry - a year travelling in India taught me the skill!
Rotisserie chicken at a picnic
Pork pies (peculiarly British food item - delicious!)
Really good thin pizza
shrimp/lobster/crawfish


Yum, I'm really hungry now!

[weech]

I voted Silverware for most foods. I hate getting my hands dirty, but will gladly pick Maryland Crabs for hours :)

DH on the other hand wishes he could eat EVERYTHING with his hands. It was actually a big annoyance for me when we were dating. My parents were strict about table manners and I was kind of horrified when DH would grab things off my plate and pop them into his mouth in nice restaurants!

[pinkmomagain]

I really like eating with my hands and so do my kids. I wish it were more socially acceptable. But hey, I found a husband, didn't I?

[Moneypenny]

I eat finger foods with my hands but not something like spaghetti. I do find something satisfying about eating a good messy drippy burger or sandwich that I eat with my hands.

I am guilty of pushing the last few peas or kernels of corn onto my silverware with my fingers, but only at home and not when we have company.

[bubbaray]

Pretty much never. Exceptions are a sandwich/burger or chicken wings/drumsticks.

[AnnieW625]

I seriously eat with my hands a lot for most meals except dinner and even then sometimes I think I eat with my hands probably more than the norm, but I do use silverware, and unless I am eating a hamburger or sandwich at a restaurant will always use a fork. The other night after going to the gym I ate dinner standing up in the kitchen. I ate my thin pork chop with my hands. Last night instead of chopping up lettuce (I was still hungry after dinner) I just ate a few leaves of it.

I will not however eat anything that requires a sauce (or is a cassrole, spaghetti, or salad like cole slaw, macroni, or patoto) without a fork and knife, and I won't eat ribs at all because they are just too messy. I don't even like to eat chicken legs because they are too messy and hard to cut with a knife (I don't like chicken skin either, even fried). Occaisionally I'll eat some hot wings, but for the most part if it's not a chicken breast I won't eat it because it can't be eaten with my hands or it can't be cut up and put in a tortilla.

[BabbyO]

I am guilty of pushing the last few peas or kernels of corn onto my silverware with my fingers, but only at home and not when we have company.
:yeahthat:


I seriously eat with my hands a lot, probably more than the norm, but I do use silverware, and unless I am eating a hamburger or sandwich at a restaurant will always use a fork. The other night after going to the gym I ate dinner standing up in the kitchen. I ate my thin pork chop with my hands. Last night instead of chopping up lettuce (I was still hungry after dinner) I just ate a few leaves of it.

I will not however eat anything that requires a sauce without a fork and knife, and I won't eat ribs at all because they are just too messy. I don't even like to eat chicken legs because they are too messy and hard to cut with a knife (I don't like chicken skin either, even fried). Occaisionally I'll eat some hot wings, but for the most part if it's not a chicken breast I won't eat it because it can't be eaten with my hands or it can't be cut up and put in a tortilla.
:yeahthat:
Are we related...are you my clone? I also eat a lot with my hands around the house. And we NEVER eat ribs or chicken legs/wings or items with sauce that are difficult to eat with silverware because I find it to be too messy, too. I also am not a fan of chicken skin either....

ETA: When DH and I visited his sis in NYC in May we ate at an Ethiopian (I think) restaurant where you scooped up the food with Ethiopian bread similar to nan or a thick crepe. DH HATED it, especially since it was family style and we were sharing with SIL and 4 of her friends. I really didn't mind eating that way at all. Now, I wasn't crazy about the fact that the table was more like a basket sitting infront of us and I had to bend over my PG belly to get at the food...but that was just a minor detail!

[niccig]

I eat finger foods with my hands but not something like spaghetti. I do find something satisfying about eating a good messy drippy burger or sandwich that I eat with my hands.

I am guilty of pushing the last few peas or kernels of corn onto my silverware with my fingers, but only at home and not when we have company.

This is me.

I have a friend that eats so much with her fingers and has no qualms of putting her hands into a bowl of shared food, eating and licking and then sticking her hands back in....so gross. As long as someone isn't doing that, and it's finger food, then I don't mind eating with hands.

[citymama]

I have a friend that eats so much with her fingers and has no qualms of putting her hands into a bowl of shared food, eating and licking and then sticking her hands back in....so gross. As long as someone isn't doing that, and it's finger food, then I don't mind eating with hands.

That is gross and unhygienic. I'm totally comfortable with eating with my hands but there have to be some hygiene rules in order for it to work! There are fairly strict rules codified into the South Asian culture (where using hands is common/typical) and I can see why:

1) Hand washing before and after every meal
2) Only eat with one hand (right) and keep left hand clean for serving additional food
3) Right hand is literally licked clean of food so there are no bits of food falling on the floor or table
4) Don't touch anything other than your own plate with your messy hand
5) Wash hands immediately after eating

[hellokitty]

I have a friend that eats so much with her fingers and has no qualms of putting her hands into a bowl of shared food, eating and licking and then sticking her hands back in....so gross. As long as someone isn't doing that, and it's finger food, then I don't mind eating with hands.

Lol, DH has a co-worker who eats like this and it completely grosses him out. Esp since they work at a hospital and his co-worker doesn't wash his hands before he eats. He says that going to the movies with this guy and seeing the way he eats popcorn is disturbing, lol. I guess the guy is very into finger licking/sucking.

[Penny's Pappa]

Obviously it depends on what foods I'm eating. The common foods you'd expect someone to eat with their hands -- pizza, hamburger, french fries, chicken legs/wings, ribs, etc... -- I eat with my hands. Most other foods I'll use silverware.

The one food that I wish I could eat with my hands but don't: pork chops. When I was growing up, my grandma would make fried pork chops and for some reason we'd eat them with our hands. Maybe this was a "country" thing or maybe we were just impolite barbarians, but it sort of felt right to eat them that way. I don't think it'd be acceptable to do that now though.

[eh613c]

That is gross and unhygienic. I'm totally comfortable with eating with my hands but there have to be some hygiene rules in order for it to work! There are fairly strict rules codified into the South Asian culture (where using hands is common/typical) and I can see why:

1) Hand washing before and after every meal
2) Only eat with one hand (right) and keep left hand clean for serving additional food
3) Right hand is literally licked clean of food so there are no bits of food falling on the floor or table
4) Don't touch anything other than your own plate with your messy hand
5) Wash hands immediately after eating

I grew up in a country where the norm is to eat with your hands and we did used the rules mentioned above. I took my DH once to an Indian restaurant where silverware is optional and he was such a good sport about it.

[ThreeofUs]

My mother's (extremely social, DAR, snooty even) Southern family taught me to eat with my hands as well as with our utensils.

My father's Northern family wouldn't touch anything without knife and fork.

In my home, it's a lot of eating with hands except at the table. Though I must say I am bringing up my children to eat certain things by hand, just as I was taught: artichokes and asparagus, for example.

[kijip]

Pretty much never. Exceptions are a sandwich/burger or chicken wings/drumsticks.

Pizza? Cookies? Pastries? I assume sandwiches and chicken can't be the only exceptions!

[ilfaith]

I remember thinking it hilarious the first time I saw someone eating pizza with a knife and fork. I was visiting a friend in Virginia and his now wife cut up her slice with a knife and delicately picked it up with a fork and put it into her mouth. I grew up in New York and New Jersey and pizza was strictly a hand-held food. But as I glanced around the room I noticed that everyone was eating their pizza with a knife and fork and I was the one who looked like a barbarian (although my pizza was neatly folded, with no grease dripping or oozy cheese stretching as I pulled the slice away from my teeth)

[kijip]

I eat food that is meant to be eaten with the hands with my hands, and that includes things like asparagus (which is totally acceptable per Miss Manners!) So that is a lot of foods:

toast/bagels
various appetizers
chips/dips/popcorn
sandwiches
fried chicken
raw veggies
Most fruit. Not gonna be able to eat a cherry with a fork!
Burritos and tacos
Pizza, unless it is deep dish and too darn messy otherwise.
Certain curries and kebobs
injera flat bread with various Ethiopian foods. I eat a ton of Ethiopian food. A ton.

I am sure this is not a comprehensive list.

[kijip]

I eat food that is meant to be eaten with the hands with my hands, and that includes things like asparagus (which is totally acceptable per Miss Manners!) So that is a lot of foods:

toast/bagels
various appetizers
chips/dips/popcorn
sandwiches
fried chicken
raw veggies
Most fruit. Not gonna be able to eat a cherry with a fork!
Burritos and tacos
Pizza, unless it is deep dish and too darn messy otherwise.
Certain curries and kebobs
injera flat bread with various Ethiopian foods. I eat a ton of Ethiopian food. A ton.

I am sure this is not a comprehensive list.

[Tondi G]

Food that just tastes better when eaten with your hands:

Curry - a year travelling in India taught me the skill!
Rotisserie chicken at a picnic
Pork pies (peculiarly British food item - delicious!)
Really good thin pizza
shrimp/lobster/crawfish


Yum, I'm really hungry now!

YUM pork pies are so yummy... especially with some Coleman's english mustard!

[TwinFoxes]

Crap, my eyes were playing tricks on me, I meant to vote "silverware usually, but hands are necessary for some foods" but accidentally voted "only of there's no choice".

[DrSally]

I eat most of the afore mentioned finger foods w/my hands. If a piece of pizza is particularly thick w/a lot of toppings, I'll start with a fork and knife, but I prefer to pick it up.

I eat Indian w/naan and Ethiopian w/Injera (love it) w/my hands. I actually prefer to finish my Indian meal with a fork since I don't want to stuff myself w/so much naan. Injera seems lighter and is such a tasty treat, I like it as much as the stews/veggies that come with it.

[bisous]

Huge fan of silverware here! If I can possibly use a knife/fork, I do. It is just a personal non-sticky hands preference!

[fumofu]

Ever since we started feeding solids to DS, and we've been doing BLW since the beginning, I've been eating more with my hands. Hands are just easier to cut food and give to DS. And since my hands are already slathered in food juices, might as well join the party.

I'm not aware that I'm offending anybody. So I just use my hands without care.

[tabegle]

After having become a mom, I think I eat with my hands more than I used to. Especially when trying to feed the little ones their finger food! Otherwise, the baby tries to steal my fork!

This may change as the kids get older, but for now, ease of eating/feeding is my goal.