Chapter 168 Tableware
Dar es Salaam.
A public dining hall.
The new immigrants are undergoing a torturous course.
"Stretch out your middle finger and bend it slightly, like I do. Do you see the section above?" Leighton said to the European immigrants, pointing at the first joint of his middle finger with his left hand.
"This part is the key, and it determines how you use this cutlery. Now let's extend our index finger and thumb as well.
Watch my movements as I place the first stick on my ring finger, then the second stick on the first joint of my middle finger, pinching the top with my thumb and index finger.
Note that the tip of your thumb should also be pressed on the first wooden stick. At this time, the first wooden stick remains stationary.
Use your thumb, index finger, and middle finger to manipulate the first wooden stick. If you master this skill, you can basically prepare all the food in East Africa. "Leighton said to the German immigrants while holding chopsticks in his hand.
As he spoke, Leighton began to show the immigrants the whole process of using chopsticks, using a ceramic bowl to hold rice and vegetables.
Leighton held the bowl skillfully, picked up the rice and vegetables with chopsticks and put them into his mouth.
"Of course, this can also be done with a spoon, but the East African government only provides chopsticks in order to save costs. It will be very inconvenient if you don't learn how to use chopsticks," said Leighton.
Of all the tableware in the world, none is easier to produce than chopsticks. Even two branches can temporarily replace chopsticks.
As a canteen, the scale was naturally not small, so a large number of tableware were needed. However, the poor East African colonies did not have the energy to provide knives, forks and spoons for these immigrants from Europe.
At this time, Europeans, especially civilians in Germany, actually mainly used spoons as tableware.
In rural German families, the whole family basically sits around the dining table for meals, using a common rice bowl with a pot of mushy wheat rice. Everyone eats directly from the bowl or pot with a spoon.
If the food needs to be divided, such as bread, use a public knife to divide it.
Knives and forks were not very popular in Germany at that time.
In the Middle Ages, people in Europe were still eating rice with their hands. The first to use a fork (with two teeth) was the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, around the 10th century. It soon spread to Italy and became an important tableware for eating pasta.
Before this, people would eat the spaghetti with juice or water in it with their fingers. After eating, they would always lick their juice-soaked fingers clean, making an intoxicated sucking sound.
In order to improve this uncivilized eating manner, they chose the Byzantine fork - rolling the noodles on the fork tines and putting them into their mouths one ball at a time.
However, the "fork" was opposed by the medieval church. For example, a German missionary in the Middle Ages directly denounced the fork as "the devil's luxury" and said "If God wanted us to use this tool, he would not have given us fingers." He warned everyone to continue the tradition of eating "pilaf".
As the church declined, the fork began to spread from Italy to other regions.
It was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that the middle and upper classes in Europe completely accepted the way of eating with forks. The French court of "Sun King" Louis XIV first started the dining mode of holding a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, and produced a large number of exquisite silver tableware. At the same time, the French also improved the fork from two teeth to four teeth, and the dinner fork was basically finalized.
At this time, forks were still popular among the upper class in France, and most ordinary people in Europe were still eating "pilaf".
It was Napoleon who really promoted the use of knives and forks. France during the Napoleonic era was keen on exporting French culture to the whole of Europe, and the fork took root throughout Europe along with Napoleon's army.
Knives and forks are already common in German cities, but have not yet become popular in rural areas, and many rural people still maintain traditional eating habits.
But German civilians were not backward when it came to eating, at least they used spoons.
Compared with spoons and forks, making them is not difficult, but chopsticks are simpler to make and easier to clean, so chopsticks are the tableware prepared in East African canteens.
The use of chopsticks in East African canteens was not a decision made by Ernst, but a spontaneous choice made by the people in charge of the East African canteens.
After all, such a small matter as what tableware to use can be decided by the person in charge of the East African canteen. As long as he does not embezzle funds, every transaction is recorded in the account and the reasons are stated and reported.
The choice of chopsticks in East African canteens was mainly inspired by Chinese immigrants, as well as Ernst's hygiene campaign in East Africa and the low cost of making chopsticks.
If it weren't for Ernst's health policy, immigrants would probably have no problem eating with their hands and wouldn't even have to use chopsticks.
In fact, immigrants who eat in the cafeteria can bring their own tableware. It is not allowed to eat directly with hands in the cafeteria. This is a strict rule. However, you can choose what tableware to use. However, the East African cafeteria only provides chopsticks.
However, not every European immigrant brought food with them when they came to East Africa. There were always some who were careless and unfocused. On the way to East Africa, they were basically supplied with dry food, so they didn't need tableware. As a result, they were at a loss when they arrived in East Africa.
East African canteens adopt a separate dining system and stipulate that people are not allowed to eat directly from their mouths in the canteen to prevent food waste. Immigrants can choose to bring their own tableware or use the tableware provided by the canteen.
The canteen managers are very satisfied with the use of chopsticks. Not only does it reduce costs, but it also meets hygiene requirements. As for some European immigrants who are not used to it, there is nothing they can do about it. Anyway, the managers themselves use complete tableware, including knives, forks, spoons, etc.
Moreover, most immigrants who come to East Africa will definitely bring their own food, but it is not ruled out that there are some immigrants who are so poor that they don’t even have a bowl, or some immigrants who still retain the medieval habit of "pilafing".
Of course, the canteens that use chopsticks are mainly distributed in major rice-producing areas such as the eastern coast of East Africa and the Great Lakes region.
The staple foods in the canteens in wheat-producing areas are mainly flatbreads, bread, etc., and the wheat-producing areas are mainly inland. Immigrants can make their own tableware on their way to the inland, so the need for chopsticks is relatively small.
Chopsticks were just a transitional product for most European immigrants who first arrived in East Africa and did not bring any eating utensils with them.
When they have time to make their own set of tableware, or leave the cafeteria, they can choose whether to continue using it.
Of course, it is not ruled out that some people may like chopsticks as tableware, and the large Chinese community in East Africa will also influence some European immigrants.
However, it is difficult for European immigrants to influence Chinese immigrants to use European tableware. After all, most European immigrants, especially German immigrants, come from rural areas, and their tableware is a spoon, which is not unique to Germany or Europe.
This can also be considered an advantage of Chinese immigrants in the mutual integration of the two civilizations. After all, East African policies are biased towards Europe.
(End of this chapter)
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