Eating rituals - Topics

Hospitality rituals differ more between cultures than menus do A tea ceremony turns a drink into a disciplined ritual Ritual hand washing before bread in Jewish households Ritual slaughter and the ethics of eating meat Eating from one shared plate and what it signals Serving elders first as a quiet eating ritual Eating the same dish every New Year's Eve for luck Why some monks eat only before noon Why do so many cultures clink glasses before drinking? Some households never start until the eldest sits down Saying grace before a meal and where the practice came from The Japanese custom of saying itadakimasu before a meal How does a Chinese family decide who pays at a group dinner? Eating with your hands changes the whole experience of a meal The first bite is offered to the gods in many Himalayan kitchens The family dinner bell as a daily ritual on farms Chopstick taboos at a shared Asian table Who eats first in a household reveals the social order Does everyone have to clean their plate? The lingering ritual Blessing the food before a communal feast in Polynesian tradition Sake pouring ritual and the way it marks social rank Rice thrown at weddings and the meaning of grain Breaking bread together as a gesture of peace Is a national cuisine defined by everyday food or by festive food? Why do you eat more when you are at a table with other people? Why medieval banquet rank was measured in courses rather than dishes Passing salt hand to hand is bad luck in some sailing families