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The Fork or the Chopstick
Tuesday, June 6, 2005-8:18 PM
The lack of anything new on this website has led some to think that I've already started my Summer Tour of China. I am, in fact, still in Guangzhou contemplating deeply the age-old question: Which is better, the fork or the chopstick?
For me, of course, this question takes on added weight since the answer does not only reflect my attitude on eating. It also says a lot about my philosophy on life.
Using a fork is arguably the utilitarian approach to dining. Forks can be used to scoop, cut, and slice food without requiring too much dexterity from the user. Some people like to use a fork together with spoons and knives, but to be honest, it's a bit redundant. Depending on the design, a fork can quite capably cope with almost any eating task you throw at it.
The chopstick, on the other hand, has one primary function, grabbing food. Even though I have myself used it to poke and even slice my dinner, I only do that as a last resort. It isn't proper form.
But the critics always say, chopsticks are too difficult to use. Some restaurants in the West offer to fasten their patrons' chopsticks together with a rubber band facilitating easy use. For some people, it's hard to understand how any culture could cling to the chopstick after being exposed to the fork.
After a couple years in China, I've become convinced that with a little investment up front getting comfortable using them, chopsticks can actually be the proper, easy-to-use eating utensil for certain kinds of food. Take, for example, the peanut.
Forget about eating a dish of peanuts with a fork. A spoon might work a little better, but eating them one by one requires some awkward and difficult movements. But once you're a little comfortable using a pair of chopsticks, you can simply anchor your elbow to the table, and, using simple, independent movements of the elbow, wrist, and fingers, polish off a whole bowl quicker than you could with your fingers.
The point is not which eating utensil is the best. The point is using the right tool for the job. At my dinner table, there'll always be room for forks, spoons, knives, sporks, chopsticks, ladles, spatulas and whatever else you can dig up.
Except for salad forks. They're dumb.
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