The "don't gross out the world" dining quiz

[Tweety69bird]

10 out of 11.

Got the Polish one wrong... flip the boat? Who knew....

[maggiethecat]

What fun, and I now know how to eat fish in Poland. (Watching the eating habits of my English great-aunts makes me want to dispute the English answer, though!)

8/11.

[Adam Balic]

10/11

Got the one about Scotland wrong. I live in Scotland. Stupid quiz.

[Behemoth]

Interesting on the German one...   I've never eaten with a German or Austrian who has ever let go of the knife in their right hand long enough to cut something with a fork.

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Interestingly, I was invited to a German colleague's place for Christmas dinner, and the topic of cutting potatoes with a fork was brought up (not by me in response to this quiz).

Only two people present had even heard of this, and one of those two had come across it only in the last week. The one who had known of it longer claimed it was about 100 years out of date, and only a died-in-the-wool pedant would observe it. He's a university professor - not sure if that makes him more or less likely to observe culinary niceties .

Yep, that was the only one I got wrong. It was also the only one I answered from experience and not from having read it somewhere. The right-hand eating in Iran (or any other muslim country for that matter) thing is BS, by the way. I mean, its better to be right handed but the reason they give is vaguely...offensive.

[Pan]

[...]The right-hand eating in Iran (or any other muslim country for that matter) thing is BS, by the way. I mean, its better to be right handed but the reason they give is vaguely...offensive.

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It's quite accurate for Malays -- certainly was in the 70s and I believe it still is. My father is lefthanded and made sure to use only his right hand to eat during his stay in the Malay village we used to live in. But I'll note that you typically eat with your hand, not with utensils (except for a spoon for soup) in rural Malaysia, and especially if you're invited to someone's house.

You are permitted to use your left hand to tear roti canai and such-like, but you must put the food into your mouth with your right hand.

[jkonick]

8/11

I even asked a Polish friend about the Polish one, and she'd never heard of it.

[demiglace]

What was the flag for the English?

Edited May 21, 2006 by demiglace (log)

[Terrasanct]

10/11. Missed the Polish one, too.

[Mandarin]

What was the flag for the English?

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St George flag

[Della]

I got 8 out of 11 - missed the Iran, Poland and the Engish of all things!!!

[hwilson41]

We are, of course, assuming the author knows what he's talking about .

[markabauman]

I've long been aware of the eating with the left hand prohibition in certain countries. Being left-handed myself, I realize that one on hand (pun intended) many of us learn out of necessity to be somewhat ambidextrous. On the other hand (pun intended), I would think that many of us lefties are ass-backwards (pun intended) and probably do with their right hand what you should do with your left hand in those countries and not the other way around. Got it?

[demiglace]

What was the flag for the English?

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St George flag

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Thank you.

[MaggieB]

4 out of 11 here also. Had to make hungrycat feel better! Guess I'll stay in my own country, so as not to disgrace myself!

[Behemoth]

[...]The right-hand eating in Iran (or any other muslim country for that matter) thing is BS, by the way. I mean, its better to be right handed but the reason they give is vaguely...offensive.

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It's quite accurate for Malays -- certainly was in the 70s and I believe it still is. My father is lefthanded and made sure to use only his right hand to eat during his stay in the Malay village we used to live in. But I'll note that you typically eat with your hand, not with utensils (except for a spoon for soup) in rural Malaysia, and especially if you're invited to someone's house.

You are permitted to use your left hand to tear roti canai and such-like, but you must put the food into your mouth with your right hand.

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Yeah but it's not because they were incapable of washing their left hand after going to the bathroom, which is what this quiz is implying. Muslim culture favors right handedness for everything, for example, you are supposed to enter a mosque right foot first, and so on.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Behemoth (log)

[Bond Girl]

7 out of 11. The Polish one stumped me...

[Pan]

[...]The right-hand eating in Iran (or any other muslim country for that matter) thing is BS, by the way. I mean, its better to be right handed but the reason they give is vaguely...offensive.

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It's quite accurate for Malays -- certainly was in the 70s and I believe it still is. My father is lefthanded and made sure to use only his right hand to eat during his stay in the Malay village we used to live in. But I'll note that you typically eat with your hand, not with utensils (except for a spoon for soup) in rural Malaysia, and especially if you're invited to someone's house.

You are permitted to use your left hand to tear roti canai and such-like, but you must put the food into your mouth with your right hand.

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Yeah but it's not because they were incapable of washing their left hand after going to the bathroom, which is what this quiz is implying. Muslim culture favors right handedness for everything, for example, you are supposed to enter a mosque right foot first, and so on.

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Right, but I guess we perceived the answer differently. I didn't get an implication that Muslims can't wash their left hands, only that the left hand is used for toilet functions or some such, which is absolutely true and how I seem to remember my Malay neighbors describing things: Right hand for eating, left hand for "washing shit." And yes, those lively villagers did say that.

[chileheadmike]

the quiz begins here

Tried this and, wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, actually learned something new about international dining manners ...

give it a try yourself ... 

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10 of 11. Missed the fried chicken. Just assumed all Americans are slobs like myself.