Of all the stuff I've ever eaten with chopsticks, mac and cheese is making my hand hurt the most.
I have recently resolved to carry a pair of chopsticks with me whenever I go out to eat. Partly because I like the idea of chop stick jujitsu saving my life some day--I know no jujitsu, so this is unlikely to happen--but mostly because eating with chopsticks is a little slower and a little more difficult than eating with a fork. I think I eat too fast. Food is hard to enjoy in fast forward.
It's strange, but food actually tastes different off chopsticks. I've eaten my share of macaroni, and I tell you it's never tasted quite like this. I've been thinking, therefore, about taking things for granted, like the taste of forks. Metal has a flavor, plastic has a flavor. I don't know what forks taste like because I've never used anything else. Like water--I can't really describe the flavor of water because I'm immune to it. And bamboo has a flavor which is different than forks, and so I can taste it. So it changes what the food tastes like.
Writing this, I've begun to wonder... If I become more accustomed to the flavor of chopsticks, will I begin to taste forks?
Some people may have realized this about me, but I sometimes have issues with concentrating. I like to center my thoughts. Eating is a solid, incredibly tangible thing to do. In making it a little more present and thought provoking, it has become a little meditative and centering. My thoughts get some straightened out because of these chopsticks.
I once read somewhere somebody saying they had asked some Chinesey why they still used chop sticks. And this Chinesey said that it was more civilized. And being the guy I am, I said, "Ah, I see what you mean. Yes indeed." And thought, "That makes precisely no sense." But I think I may begin now to see what this Fu Munchulia was getting at.
Okay, time to go finish the mac. I just needed to rest my hand.
5 comments:
Soup, too, right?
I find that chopsticks are inefficient at eating rice, which is why I've seen in some movies that people use a spoon. If you eat too fast, then maybe you ought to chew slower.
What's "chew"?
You know, in China, the mastery of chopsticks, as demonstrated by the use of them to eat small food objects (think individual grains of rice), is a sign of refinement.
I don't think it's a very good test. I can eat individual grains of rice mit my chopsticks.
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