What people in Arab and African cultures accomplish with their right hand is traditionally done with chopsticks in East Asia: the cutlery utensils, mostly made of bamboo or wood, originated in China, where they are said to have been used as early as circa 5,000 years ago. From the Middle Kingdom, chopsticks then spread to other Asian countries such as Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. [4]
This long history has led to the establishment of a number of rules on how to eat with chopsticks. Some of them are also for hygienic reasons. In China, for example, two different types of chopsticks are used when people eat together: one pair of chopsticks is used to serve the food – another is used for eating. This is to prevent people from using their own cutlery to reach into the plates and bowls that are on the table for everyone – and thus prevent germs from migrating from their own mouths into the food of others. [5] The chopsticks for eating are also not placed directly on the table, as it is generally considered unclean. Instead, they are placed on a special tray, a bench, or the edge of the bowl or plate.
In Japan, too, it is customary to eat food with chopsticks. However, in the Land of the Rising Sun, one should be careful not to pass anything with them, as this is reminiscent of a special death rite in which the bones of the buried person are laid to rest with bamboo sticks as part of the mourning ceremony. [6] Accordingly, it is considered a bad omen to pass food from chopstick to chopstick. Whether this rule may also have something to do with preventing the transmission of germs cannot be definitively determined. But it is certainly hygienic.
Similar to Asia, there are also various rules in Europe and North America on how to properly handle cutlery when eating – although these have less to do with hygiene and are no longer followed too strictly in many places. For example, while most people still know to place the knife to the right and the fork to the left of the plate, it is quite rare nowadays to see someone cross the knife and fork to signal to the waiter or host that they are ready for the next plate.
