Those Strange Table Habits!

One peculiar habit of the Turks that I find almost disturbing when it comes to the dining table is the lack of COMMUNAL SPOONS. I have no idea if this practice is a common sight in other countries but generally for the Asian culture, we do use communal spoons on the dining table mainly for hygiene reason.



I don't really get invitations to have dinners with Turkish families here, honestly I don't have loads of Turkish friends. I remembered my first time dining with with a Turkish family, everyone was digging their spoons in the same tub of youghurt and I watched in horror as the food residue from their spoons lingered around in the tub of youghurt. Though I had planned to have some youghurt with my pilav (rice) and meat, I decided against it eventually. I didn't have any salad either - the very salad whom everyone else dig into with gusto.

When I dined with E's family, it was de ja vu all over again as everyone started making their marks with their spoons and forks. I just don't understand why the idea of using communal spoons had never dawned to them. Don't get me wrong, I love his family, they are such good, kind people but no matter how good the food is, I just can't eat with ease.



Few days ago, I had dinner at E's family's again. His dad reached out for a couple of olives from a communal bowl using his bare hands. E's mom slapped his hand and scolded her husband in Turkish. I thought that was hilarious and I laughed at him. They don't speak English thus we have the funniest yet strangest way of communicating. Laughing at one another is one of them.

Later on, I noticed a weird thing happening like his mom running to the kitchen at the last minute before we started to bite in, and coming back with COMMUNAL SPOONS which she placed at each of the side dishes laid on the table. I smiled in approval though minutes later I started wondering why the change. E. Who else could it be?

I called E this morning and asked if he has anything to do with it and he said yea, I simply told my mom you don't like people shoving their cutleries in the shared dishes. I was like, "WHAT?! How could you tell her that?? She's probably think I'm such a freaking fussy princess!" He didn't think it was a big deal and I promised myself not to tell him anything anymore!

Another funny table habit is, Turks tend to place their bread or pastries on the dining table. Yea, you might think what's so strange? I meant placing their bread directly on the naked table, no plates or napkins whatsoever. So you'll see their bowl of salad, bowl of soup and their main dish and bread/pastries smacked right on the table. Ok maybe I'm being too anal about this but you know, my take is, the naked table isn't exactly CLEAN. Sometimes we rest our arms on the table, sometimes we spill stuff on the table only to wipe it with a 2 day old table cloth. Putting your bread on it can only makes it easier for your food to absorb all the germs and bacteria on the table! The very same bread you tear out into small pieces and have it with your soup!



Turks are also amusingly anal about...FISH. I find it truly amusing in a way. They are highly sensitive to fish's smell and some of my students told me they don't eat fish just cos they can't stand the smell! Weird huh? I personally have no problems with fish or their smell or whatsoever, in fact, I LOVE MY FISH! I don't mind going to the wet market with the strong smell of freshly caught fish - in fact, it's kinda therapeutic! lol... Whenever E's mom cooks fish for dinner, she'll make sure she wash and scrub the plates several times just to get rid of the smell... I mean, really? What smell? It just totally baffles me.



My Turkish friends find it darn weird too that I have fish for breakfast sometimes. I love my good old fish fingers, who cares in the morning, afternoon or night?! They generally don't eat fish for breakfast, they find it so gag-worthy. Strange. Needless to say, fish burgers in Burger Kings aren't really their best selling items. They don't even have my fave 'fish fillet' burger in Mc Donalds! Yes, absolutely no fish burgers in Mc D. Shame.



I guess how interesting can the world be if everyone's the same huh? :)