the communal table
I've been thinking lately about the way we eat here in America. I'm not talking about how we eat at home, which can vary greatly. I know I personally eat a lot of meals sitting right here at my computer, trying not to drip on my keyboard. But the way we eat in restaurants, in public. People sit, usually in twos or threes, at separate tables. Each person orders their own plate, which is complete unto itself. A meat, veg, starch, sauce, garnish. A tiny little feast, for one person only, not meant to be shared.
I had the amazing opportunity to live in China for a year and a half, and one of the first things that really struck me was the vast difference in the way they eat in public. There are no sad, selfish two-tops. There are large tables filled with big groups of family and friends. The tables are almost always round. People do not order individually. The host (and there is always a host, who pays for everyone) orders many dishes for the table, and everyone eats from the many communal dishes in the center. The experience of eating, then, becomes truly shared because everyone is eating the same thing.
Courses are different there too. I'm not sure if there is some sort of order to how the food comes from the kitchen. There didn't seem to be, but it may have been too elaborate for me to grasp. It seems that food comes out as it is finished, which is kind of nice. One dish comes, perhaps some crispy pork and ginger dumplings. Then another - maybe a beautiful whole braised fish. Then some stir-fried vegetables, etc. etc. You eat a little of this, then a little of that, how about some more dumplings? Those were good, let's get some more. It's a very free and joyful experience of eating.
When I came home, it seemed truly bizarre and sad to see all of these little tables of 2 or 3. It seemed kind of pointless to go out to dinner with other people because although you are sittting in the same room, you are not sharing the experience of the whole reason you are there - the meal! It's kind of like going to the theater with someone, and not hearing the same music. There is something important about sharing a sensory experience with other people, whether it be hearing the same music, walking down the same street, or seeing the same painting. It bonds you together. What could bond you more to another than eating the same meal? Eating is different than just seeing or hearing something. The food actually enters your body and becomes part of you. Why don't we want to share that with others?
Of course, the family table is a communal experience and I'm happy to see that the trend of serving food family style seems to be growing. I know that when I open my public kitchen, in July, one of the things I want to do is to serve a meal once a week where everyone sits at one table and eats the same thing. In a small way, I believe that this can build community through shared experience, and through the simple fact that if you all sit together, you kind of have to talk to tho other people around you.
Until then, I guess I'll continue to wonder at our pervasive a la carte style of dining, which seems to me quintissentially American - independent -with each person eating their own feast, not sharing, or maybe, begrudgingly, just a bite.
I had the amazing opportunity to live in China for a year and a half, and one of the first things that really struck me was the vast difference in the way they eat in public. There are no sad, selfish two-tops. There are large tables filled with big groups of family and friends. The tables are almost always round. People do not order individually. The host (and there is always a host, who pays for everyone) orders many dishes for the table, and everyone eats from the many communal dishes in the center. The experience of eating, then, becomes truly shared because everyone is eating the same thing.
Courses are different there too. I'm not sure if there is some sort of order to how the food comes from the kitchen. There didn't seem to be, but it may have been too elaborate for me to grasp. It seems that food comes out as it is finished, which is kind of nice. One dish comes, perhaps some crispy pork and ginger dumplings. Then another - maybe a beautiful whole braised fish. Then some stir-fried vegetables, etc. etc. You eat a little of this, then a little of that, how about some more dumplings? Those were good, let's get some more. It's a very free and joyful experience of eating.
When I came home, it seemed truly bizarre and sad to see all of these little tables of 2 or 3. It seemed kind of pointless to go out to dinner with other people because although you are sittting in the same room, you are not sharing the experience of the whole reason you are there - the meal! It's kind of like going to the theater with someone, and not hearing the same music. There is something important about sharing a sensory experience with other people, whether it be hearing the same music, walking down the same street, or seeing the same painting. It bonds you together. What could bond you more to another than eating the same meal? Eating is different than just seeing or hearing something. The food actually enters your body and becomes part of you. Why don't we want to share that with others?
Of course, the family table is a communal experience and I'm happy to see that the trend of serving food family style seems to be growing. I know that when I open my public kitchen, in July, one of the things I want to do is to serve a meal once a week where everyone sits at one table and eats the same thing. In a small way, I believe that this can build community through shared experience, and through the simple fact that if you all sit together, you kind of have to talk to tho other people around you.
Until then, I guess I'll continue to wonder at our pervasive a la carte style of dining, which seems to me quintissentially American - independent -with each person eating their own feast, not sharing, or maybe, begrudgingly, just a bite.
posted by J at 8:30 AM
1 Comments:
I've had the kind of truly communal experience in a restaurant only twice -- once in London at an Indian restaurant, and once here in the States at a Thai restaurant. In each case, I trusted the person with experience to play "host," to order what he or she thought best for the whole group. This seems to me a small but significant act of trust. So many of us are entirely dominated with the narrow tastes we've allowed ourselves to develop, and we guard them zealously, selfishly. Entrusting the meal to another, having no say in what was ordered or prepared, was exciting, and felt somehow an infinitely more congenial experience than our typical way of eating out.
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