ArsCompendium - Digital Scribes For The New Millenium

Users Online

3 Users Online

Do Messy Foods Taste Better?

Read more articles on Life's Nuances and Let Me Share With You.

September 21, 2007

About This Editor: Karen has enjoyed her many varied experiences in corporate business management, dance education, and preschool assistance. She hopes to write about these past lives-and more-from her home in Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and 3 cats.

227 Views

Submit this article to the following social bookmark news sites:

del.icio.us:Do Messy Foods Taste Better?

Yesterday, I had the chance to revisit one of my favorite sandwiches, the gyro, and totally enjoyed every bite. Part of me wonders if we instinctively enjoy messy foods that require us to lick our fingers and use a different napkin every 10 seconds.

I do think there’s something to this…an appetizer that I’ve made into a meal is the dish of wing dings-one more snack that requires clean hands and a stack of handi-wipes. And, as far as I’m concerned, ribs, fried chicken, nachos, pizza and fondue should all come with bibs.

Of course, there are those who wouldn’t consider even eating pizza without a knife and fork, but I personally think I could go a long time without needing silverware at meals. There is something untamed about using your hands for eating; the middle-easterners, with their wonderful dips and spreads for pita or nan, hit the nail on the head. (Japanese, with their bite-size sushi and sashimi, and other Asian cultures, with their chopsticks, seem to do quite well.) You have to wonder about knives and forks. Is it simply a desire to put forth a neat and clean image, or do we view messy foods as somehow unsophisticated?

All I know is that messy food can make eating into a daring experience. It’s a challenge to eat a gyro without most of the lettuce dropping onto the wrapper and a good bit of sauce inching down your arm. It’s sensual to lick that barbecued rib or wing sauce off your fingers. And, feeling food in your hands before it reaches your mouth adds a whole new dimension to eating-why else to we enjoy finger foods like chips, pretzels, crackers, popcorn and such if it’s not so much fun to grab them up in our hands?

There will always be some, who, like the pizza-fork eaters, will never think of using their fingers, and I feel sorry for them. They’re missing out. In my opinion, most messy finger foods simply taste better. Maybe it’s a case of eliminating the middleman; what do you think?