當印度人用手吃東西，有時還舔手指和手掌時，外國人是什麼感覺?_風聞

【來源龍騰網】

評論原創翻譯：

Anonymous

Being a guy from East Asia visited Indian subcontinent regularly, I think I have the credential to answer this, of course anonymously with some reasons.

After 10 years, I’m still feeling sick seeing my friends eat with their fingers.

Some of my points:

Please don’t take it offensive. I respect Indian culture and history, I made lots of friends during the time, some of them I consider best friends. I never judge any behavior or habit difference, except this one.

As a traveler, I used to try eating with hand to get closer to our partners or customers, at least at first meet, but sorry I failed at second try. Now I say sorry first and ask for a spoon to eat dal. “Sorry I love eating with fingers, but I feel easier with a spoon”, I lie.

Of course I eat with my fingers sometimes, pizza, roasted chicken, tandori, rotti and onion, any dry food. Biriyani with dal? Sorry, I need a spoon.

作為一個經常訪問印度次大陸的東亞人，我認為我有資格回答這個問題，當然由於某些原因所以是匿名的。十年過去了，看到朋友們用手吃飯，我還是覺得噁心。我的一些觀點:

1. 請不要生氣。我尊重印度文化和歷史，在那段時間裏我交了很多朋友，其中一些我認為是最好的朋友。我從不評判任何行為或習慣的差異，除了這點（用手吃飯）。

2. 作為一個旅行者，我曾經嘗試用手吃飯，以接近我們的合作伙伴或顧客，至少在第一次見面時是這樣，但遺憾的是第二次嘗試失敗了，我會先説聲對不起，然後要一個勺子來吃飯。我撒謊道：“對不起，我喜歡用手吃東西，但我覺得用勺子吃更容易些”。

3. 當然，我有時也用手吃，披薩、烤雞、烤腸、烙餅和洋葱，任何干糧。至於米飯?對不起，我需要一把勺子。

Why can’t I?

We were taught hands are always dirty. Don’t touch your food, especially wet food. Respect it by using chopsticks and spoons.

“My hands are clean of course!”, I only touch my laptop keyboard, keypad, mouse most of the time, steering wheel, tv remote on a typical day. Man, these things are full of bacteria, even when we wash our hand with soap. I don’t want to wash my hands like a surgeon before eating.

If utensils are not clean, so the food’s clean? If I trust a place enough to eat their food, I trust their spoons too.

Eating today is not only eat and quit, we do multi tasks during meal time. At home we need our hands clean and dry to prepare more dishes, passing this and that, drink. In public we eat and talk and meet, shake hands, writing notes, showing this and that. I can’t spend hours with my fingers full of curry and do other job.

Half-processed material to make dishes and we need fingers tofinish the job? Anything to complete with a hand, we can make it easier with a pair of chopstick or forks.

Touching the food make hands oily, even if we wash it after meals. Some of my friends admit they feel terrible shaking hands of Indian guys, “full of oil!”. “Hey, not only hands, their phone and laptop too!”

I don’t mean to offend anyone or any culture, just tell what I really think. I don’t mean to make you change your habits, but if possible, please use utensils when you’re abroad, because many people may judge you by the way you eat. Trust me, they have terrible comments but they never share them on Quora.

為什麼不？

1. 我們被教導手總是髒的。不要碰你的食物，尤其是濕的食物。用筷子和勺子來尊重它。

2. “我的手當然是乾淨的!”我通常只碰我的筆記本電腦鍵盤、鼠標、方向盤、電視遙控器。夥計，這些東西充滿了細菌，即使我們用肥皂洗手。

3. 如果餐具不乾淨，那麼食物怎麼能是乾淨的?既然我可以相信身體某個部位可以用來吃食物，那我相信勺子也能。

4. 今天的吃飯不僅僅是吃完就拍屁股走人，我們在吃飯的時候還會做很多事情。在家裏，我們需要雙手清潔和乾燥來準備更多的菜餚。在公共場合，我們吃飯、交談、見面、握手、寫筆記、展示這個和那個。我無法把滿是咖喱的手指用來做其他工作。

5. 半成品的食材是用來做菜餚的，我們確實可以用手指來完成餘下工作。但任何需要用手來完成的事情，我們都可以更容易地用筷子或叉子來做。

6. 接觸食物會使手變油，即使我們飯後洗了手。我的一些朋友承認，與“滿是油”的印度人握手讓他們感覺很糟糕。“嘿，不只是手，還有他們的手機和筆記本電腦!”

我無意冒犯任何人或任何文化，只是説出我的真實想法。我並不是要你們改變飲食習慣，但如果可能的話，出國時請使用餐具，因為許多人可能會通過你的飲食方式來評判你。相信我，他們有很糟糕的評論，但是他們絕不會在Quora上分享。

Grace Keys, Designer/Marketing, Relationships, Livin’ Life

One of the first dates with an Indian guy: He took me to an Indian restaurant because never in my life have I ever had the chance to try Indian food. He took me to a buffet where I could try endless amount of dishes.

When we started eating I noticed he was eating with his hands, which is something I am not used to. My whole family is from Europe and even french fries are eaten with forks!

The guy, with his hands, would rip a piece of naan, grab a chicken and dip it in a sauce, and eat it.

I am already conditioned to wipe my hands on a napkin if food were to touch it. I never felt disgusted, or thought it was weird, just different. I know ppl who eat with chop sticks, which still blows my mind. Eating with hands, forks, chop sticks….Same difference!

It was fascinating to learn about a new culture, BUT when we go out to eat, I will still just rip a piece of naan, eat it….then grab my fork to eat the chicken and rice.

Grace Keys, 設計師/市場營銷，關係，生活

和一個印度人的第一次約會:他帶我去了一家印度餐廳，因為我這輩子從來沒有機會嘗試印度食物。他帶我去了一家自助餐廳，在那裏我可以品嚐無窮無盡的菜餚。

當我們開始吃的時候，我注意到他用手吃，這點一開始我不習慣。我全家人都來自歐洲，甚至連炸薯條都是用叉子吃的!這個人會用他的手撕一塊烤餅，抓一塊雞肉，蘸醬吃。

如果手準備接觸食物，我已經習慣了用紙巾擦手。我從來沒有覺得噁心，也不覺得奇怪，只是感覺不一樣。我知道有些人用筷子吃飯，這讓我記憶猶新。用手，叉子，筷子吃，這種給人的區別都是一樣的!

瞭解一種新的文化是很有趣的，但當我們出去吃飯時，我還是會把烤餅撕成一小塊，然後再吃它，然後用我的叉子吃雞肉和米飯。/笑

Menzel Meister, Some Dude running from the black dog

If they’re enjoying their food, it feels good to share the moment =] Doesn’t matter how they’re eating it. It’s the experience that matters. I prefer the spoon for eating Indian food, it doesn’t mean I have a greater or lesser capacity to enjoy it than someone who eats with their hand. I don’t think it’s a “dirty” way to eat, since people tend to wash their hands prior to eating. And I know I’ll lick food off my hands if I make a mess, so if it doesn’t bother me to do it myself, it shouldn’t bother me to see others do it.

Side note, for some reason I enjoy using chopsticks to eat food more than forks or spoons (when possible, curry would be pretty difficult to pick up with sticks!), and I’m American. Go figure. I just like the way it feels, it’s like a little challenge sometimes to pick up a slippery slice of mushroom or a tiny mound of rice. Also it forces me to eat more slowly, which I prefer since I take my meals as experiences to savor anyway.

如果他們很享受他們的食物，那麼分享這一刻的感覺就足夠了，不管他們是怎麼吃的。重要的是體驗。

我更喜歡用勺子吃印度食物，這並不意味着我比用手吃的人更能或更少地享受印度食物。

我不認為這是一種“骯髒”的吃飯方式，因為人們往往會在吃飯前洗手。我知道如果我弄得一團糟，我會舔掉手上的食物，所以如果我自己都不介意，我也不應該介意看到別人這麼做。

補充：出於某種原因，我更喜歡用筷子吃東西，而不是用叉子或勺子(如果可能的話，用筷子吃咖喱是相當困難的!)，而且我是美國人。我只是喜歡這種感覺，有時候夾起一片滑溜溜的蘑菇或一小堆米飯就像是一個小挑戰。它也迫使我吃得更慢，這是我喜歡的，因為我把我的飯作為體驗來品嚐。

Ben A. Wise, lived in India

I’ve always been messy, clumsy and ungainly with a fork and a knife. Various members of my family have tried to civilize me over the years; none have succeeded.

Then I came to India. What?! Why didn’t I know about this sooner? You mean I can dispense altogether with the silverware, with these heinous implements that come between me and my sustenance, that deprive me of a whole additional sensory experience of the food -- its texture and warmth against my fingers — replacing it with a steely vicariousness? You mean I can cut the cutlery that cleaves the nexus between mouth and nutriment, that impinges on the organic electromagnetic field of my nourishment by introducing unnecessary disturbance-causing metals? You mean I can enter into direct communx with my meals?

Gastronomically speaking, I was in heaven.

When I got back from India to my parents’ house from that first visit (this was more than ten years ago) with whom I was living at the time, I continued to eat with my hands until one day my mother said, “you know, I don’t really like it when you eat with your hands.” I acquiesced, but my resolve to return to India strengthened.

Ben A. Wise,曾在印度生活

我拿刀叉的時候總是笨手笨腳的。多年來，我家裏的許多人都試圖使我掌握它，但都沒有成功。

然後我來到了印度。什麼? !我怎麼沒早點知道?你的意思是我可以放棄所有的餐具，那些擋在我和食物之間的令人髮指的工具，它們剝奪了我對食物額外的感官體驗——那種質感和温暖觸及我的手指，而我要用一種鋼鐵工具來取代它?……

從美食的角度來説，我就像到了天堂。

十多年前，我第一次拜訪完印度，離開並回到父母家後，我一直用手吃飯，直到有一天我母親説，“我知道的，我真的不喜歡你用手吃飯。” 我默許了，但我返回印度的決心更加堅定了。