My Hong Kong | Don’t try and tell us how to eat rice, we Chinese like to enjoy our food with our hands, as well as all five senses
- Recent remarks from a British former royal butler about not eating rice with our fingers miss the point
- We celebrate food with all our senses, and love getting hands-on with it
With the world closely watching the aftershocks from “that” bombshell Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey, institutional racism appears to be alive and well within the British monarchy. Now we have a former royal butler telling the world how to eat rice.
Unbelievable as it may sound, Grant Harrold, who once served Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry, made his offensive remarks in a Twitter post last week.
The self-proclaimed “etiquette expert” said people should not eat rice with their “hands or fingers”.
As if that’s not disrespectful enough, Harrold went on to expand on his culinary views. “Ladies and gentlemen, remember we always use a knife and fork or chopsticks to eat rice … We do not use our hands or fingers.”
Who on Earth would use a knife and fork to pick up grains of rice or scrape them off a bowl? Whoever chooses to eat rice like that would most likely starve, especially in this part of the world if they are eating with locals. Eating rice and Chinese food in general is a true culinary enjoyment for all our senses and it also gives us pleasure to share food with people and build mutual connection.