Chopsticks

[David Williams]

In Europe there's lots of wood and coal and iron ore, so cutlery was invented. In China there's not so much of any of them, but there's lots of bamboo, so chopsticks were invented. Cutlery is better - a lot better. It's much more efficient and requires no particular dexterity. It's hard to imagine anything less suited to eating rice than chopsticks. Even cake forks would be an improvement.

So why do Europeans use chopsticks at all? Because it's somehow authentic? If so, why do Indian restaurants provide cutlery? Or is eating with your hands just too authentic? Give me a knife and fork every time.

[Lesley Hines]

It does annoy me the way Westerners (i.e. people eating in Chinese restaurants over here) use chopsticks like they're some dainty picking tool (and think themselves superior for it), when the Chinese tend to use them as some sort of groovy triangulated shovel. At least they did when I was in the Far East. As for eating with your hands - I did it a few times (in Malaysia we were visiting friends so it's only polite to do as the, er, Romans do) so we ate with our hands where it was de rigeur to do so. Fair enough but there's a whole load of etiquette with that too. You've really got to get it right. Most places had all three options!

AFAICS the only reason for using chopsticks over here is you're pretentious, unless you use them properly (groovy triangulated shovel), which invariably raises eyebrows from people at neighbouring tables. Ho hum.

[Jon Corby]

Eating with chopsticks is fun!

[Matt Morrison]

Yeah, it's fun. Eating with chopsticks, to me, is both a sign of respect and also an effort not to look like a Western twat. And of course I shovel it in too. It's easier and more authentic.

[Michael Wallace]

I always thought that chopsticks offered far greater dexterity with just one hand, but obviously if you've grown up using a fork that will seem much easier than trying to become chopstick fluent. And yeah, it's fun.

[Jon O'Neill]

I'm with David on this.

[Jon Corby]

I'm with David on this.

There is undoubtedly an element of "look, I can use chopsticks and you can't" going on as well. I won't deny it.

[Karen Pearson]

But chopstick are great if you're dieting. By the time you've managed to eat your first helping, everyone else (not using chopstick) has scoffed the rest of the food.