Eating using hands – yes or no?

When a video of New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani eating rice with his fingers surfaced recently it kicked off a storm in both mainstream and social mediaThere have been vociferous advocates for and against eating with onersquos fingers some terming it unhygienic and ldquodisgustingrdquo and others saying it is an intrinsic part of Indian culture which should not be deniedWhat do foodies chefs and manners maestros thinkFood show presenter Rocky Singh IGRockyeatsIG is emphatic about being handson ldquoFor me food is love and love is best expressed from the heart My heart tells me to caress each bite and feel its amazingness with my fingertipsrdquo he declaresYajush Malik Konkana Bakshi and Rocky SinghChef Yajush Malik partner at Mumbairsquos Gallops restaurant however says it depends on the context ldquoThe true mark of hospitality is making sure the guest is at ease Having said that there are casual settings where the use of hands may be ok or more formal settings where cutlery is the norm Whether it is casual or fine dining doesnrsquot necessarily dictate how the food should be consumed For example Gaggan Anand had a course at his acclaimed restaurant in Bangkok that you had to lick off the plate Therefore trolling someone for using their hands is just immature and insensitiverdquo he opinesThe trolling was probably too much but etiquette and image consultant Konkana Bakshi feels that the idea of etiquette is ldquonot to impose our culture on another countryrdquo ldquoZohran Mamdani may have wanted to win Indian hearts But internationally mdash and more so diplomatically mdash itrsquos not a good ideardquo she saysldquoWhen we invite people from Europe or America to our homes they make an effort to eat our way and we appreciate it They are considerate about our culture We should do the same Eating with hands is seen as unhygienic in many culturesrdquo Bakshi addsDarshan Mondkar entrepreneurEntrepreneur and foodie Darshan Mondkar opines ldquoIt is also classist to consider your eating habits greater than someone elsersquos purely by virtue of which community you were born in or which country you grew up inrdquoSingh adds ldquoThere are many things in other cultures which surprise and even shock people We live we test other ways of life and we adopt that which worksrdquoTerming the Zohran Mamdani issue as ldquoa storm in a plate of biryanirdquo Mondkar says that across the world certain communities are brought up with certain habits and they are all ldquogood etiquetterdquoAgreeing that eating etiquette is culturespecific Malik says ldquoItrsquos about what the traditional way to consume the dish would be I would eat a biryani with my hands but not a roast chicken Plus there are limitations at times for example eating a sadhya with a fork and spoon would just result in ripping a good banana leaf to shredsrdquoCertain rice dishes are best eaten using the hands echoes Mondkar ldquoBiryani dal rice curd rice mdash they wonrsquot satisfy you unless you eat them using your hand That said I would leave the choice of eating habits to lsquoeach his ownrsquo As long as itrsquos their tummy itrsquos going into does it matterrdquoSingh however is emphatic about eating Indian food with onersquos fingers ldquoIndian food carries a lot of flavour heat colour and textures Nimble fingers make the most of flavours with a bite of food a dash of pickle a dip of yoghurt and a smear of chutney Itrsquos simply not possible to do that with a spoon Touch is critical in completing the immersion of all the senses in each bite To me itrsquos an evolved way of eating and much of what I eat I eat by hand As for what others do I donrsquot carerdquoldquoEat using your hands if you want to mdash just make sure they are washed before and afterrdquo opines Mondkar He quips ldquoMeanwhile if someone plans to treat me to some yummy mutton biryani and wants me to eat using a knife and a fork I will oblige as long as they are footing the bill and itrsquos an ldquoeat as much as you canrdquo optionrdquo