Indonesia: a traditionally forkless society

A typically Indonesian cultural feature that I find hard to adapt to, despite having spent 14 years of my life in the country, is the very fact that sometimes Indonesians choose to eat with their steel spoon (but no fork).

It's not a matter of getting used to, because no matter how hard I try to adapt to such a tradition, I still find eating without fork a hell lot harder than eating with hands (lesehan). If I am given a host to a fellow Indonesian's home and offered a serving of lunch with spoon but no fork, I usually prefer to set the spoon aside and eat by hands instead.

Because no matter what, I would very much prefer to eat rice with chopsticks (which is considered hard by most people, but easy by the Chinese/Japanese/Koreans) than to eat them with spoon only.

But that's just me though.

What about you? Can you eat without using fork?

PS: Sendok bebek (termed soup spoon in English) is one exception though.


Si Bunbun  – (9 August 2008 at 02:56)  

do you know why the Chinese/Japanese/Koreans find it easy to eat rice w/ chopsticks? Their rice types are different, I think theirs are stickier. And lesehan means sitting down on the floor, not eating w/ hands.
Anw, dulu gw juga ga biasa makan pake sendok PLUS garpu.. haha..

Si Bunbun  – (9 August 2008 at 03:00)  
This comment has been removed by the author.
toshi  – (9 August 2008 at 09:02)  

@boon: what about the rice sold in those so-called Japanese restaurants of Hoka-hoka Bento? Despite the fact that they claim to be Japanese, I know very well that the rice in H2B is in fact Indonesian rice.


(and I eat rice in H2B with chopsticks too, btw :D. sori pamer dikit, hehe)

Si Bunbun  – (9 August 2008 at 21:22)  

ermm... gw di rumah juga makan nasi pake sumpit.. that's if i cooked a japanese food..

it's easier to eat Chinese/Japanese/Koreans rice types w/ chopsticks. I didn't say that u can't eat rice w/ chopsticks, did I?
btw, ttg post lu yg baru, michael phelps kan swimmer, kok "running"? hahaha... =P
yes2, i'm LAME KING!

toshi  – (11 August 2008 at 01:42)  

oh dear, how much lamer could you be? lol... those prelims are stressing u out, imho. =D

Si Bunbun  – (11 August 2008 at 05:08)  

i can be lamer than that and don't blame my prelims for my lame-ness, it's just natural. LOL

Post a Comment

  © Blogger template Shush by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP