Try it, over a billion people like it! You may think that eating with sticks is an odd thing to do, but consider this. Chopsticks have been around thousands of years while the fork and spoon were not introduced to North America until the early 1700’s and not common used until around the time of the American revolution. Before then people or all economic condition would eat with their hands or drink from their bowls. Chopstick is an efficient way to get food to from the plate to your month. No hands necessary.
Celebrating February 6 :
Also: African Heritage & Health Week
Daily Facts:
A. In old Chinese chopsticks are called kuaizi roughly meaning “quick little bamboo fellows”
B. Over a quarter of the world’s population uses chopsticks as their primary utensil for eating.
C. The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or grabbing bits of food, and not as eating utensils.
D. Chopsticks shapes and lengths very from region to region. Generally Chinese versions are tapered with blunt ends while Japanese are shorted and more pointed.
Chopsticks in music: Who HASN’T played chopsticks on the piano? It’s original name is” The Celebrated Chop Waltz.” Composed by Arthor de Lulli(pseudonym of Euphemia Allen.) in 1877. In Russia it is known as the “Cuplet Polka”
Daily Quote: “You do not sew with a fork, and I see no reason why you should eat with knitting needles.” ~Miss Piggy
Today’s Food History
on this day in…
- 1617 RIP Prospero Alpini, An Italian physician and botanist; said to have introduced coffee and bananas to Europe.
- 1685 RIP Charles II, king of England, Tea was introduced to England during his reign. On December 23, 1675, he issued a proclamation suppressing Coffee Houses.
- 1865 A horse meat banquet is held at the Grand Hotel in Paris. Horse meat was considered a common man’s food of the time.
- 1985 Perrier introduced Perrier with ‘a twist of lemon’ – its first new product in 125 years.
Nice article. Cool fun facts. And the secret to chopsticks is the secret to anything – lots and lots of practice!
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I too am in love with Japanese chopsticks, SO versatile and a must for eating fish. Long cooking chopsticks (saibashi) are also very handy.
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a very interesting post. I didn;t really knew these things about chopsticks.
Roxana @ Comfy Space
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Well Feb 6 was my birthday and I had stir fry so all unknowinly (unitl now) I celebrated both my birthday and chopstick day! Chopsticks are wonderful except I can’t figure out how to cut with them!!!!!
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I couldn’t live without chopsticks. Once you know how to use them, you can always fashion some for use if you find yourself without utensils. 🙂
Learning to use them properly definitely takes practice, but it’s worth it. Even little Asian kids have to learn – they aren’t magically born with the ability to use them. 🙂
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Just wanted to let you know, that since I moved to a self hosted site, I lost all of my wordpress.com followers. Im sending a notice out to let you know you may not receive emails or notifications about posts I write unless you follow me again! Thank you so much and look forward to seeing you at my site!
Viva la journey,
-CT
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I am of the very strong opinion that the use of “quick little bamboo fellows” should be a required skill in life.
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Ha ha..National Day for Chopsticks! Love it! The strange thing is that in Penang, Malaysia during the British Colonial period, most Chinese Malaysian grew up using Silver fork and spoon at home, not chopstick. It was at that time seen as “class” and speaking British English was perceived as hailing from an affluent home and family of higher education background and social influence. How time has changed. Chopsticks are no longer seen as utensil for the peasants, but as a trend, style and hipster to impress friends coming over for a dinner party!
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They are very difficult to use! By I’m always attempting to learn and get it right.
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Who knew about “Chopsticks” on the piano?? Great piece, as usual. Now how about some Chopsticks 101 tips for the chopsticks-challenged among us?
Myself included, at least 50% of the time 🙂
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Love the quote…and Happy Chopsticks Day…
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“quick little bamboo fellows”… love that! I was going to make a roasted chicken today, but now I might have to make a stir fry:)
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I love all your tidbits of information so much that I want to pluck each morsel with my chopsticks of thought and insert them into my forever memory.
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Since moving to Japan and using chopsticks every day, I’ve fallen in love with them.
Such a simple but incredibly versatile tool. With a couple of good knives for cutting and spoons for scooping, one needs little else in the kitchen.
As for eating, chopsticks are wonderful. The Japanese style, being pointed at the tip, allow one to pick up tiny pieces of food (a single bean, a sesame seed) as well as large chunks, and are perfect for eating fish as the tiny points can easily separate flesh from bone.
Before coming here I’d struggle with a knife and fork to eat fish. Now no more. I recommend them to everyone and always take them back as gifts for overseas friends.
The Chinese style chopsticks however lack such precision as the tips are quite thick.
And flat Korean ones – I haven’t tried but they sound a little awkward.
Thanks for this blog John-Bryan, and for following mine. As a food lover, I’m really looking forward to reading more.
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I love eating with chopsticks! I think it makes everything taste so much better. I even eat salad with chopsticks.
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Chopsticks are also a great way to manage your diet–makes you eat more slowly while you get fuller. Although once you get really good at using them, that may not be a factor anymore.
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This is fantastic! I’ve never been able to use chopsticks ‘properly’ myself, but as long as there’s food to pick up with them I guess it doesn’t really matter.
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Korea’s chopsticks are flat metal. Both Japanese and Chinese have a hard time with them. (Obviously Westerners have a harder time. lol.)
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Awesome blog, I was very sad to have missed nutella day! Thanks for following my blog,
As a side point, when my husband and I were stationed in Japan, I managed to learn to east with chopsticks…. But apparently not the right way… I had quite a few Japanese people try to teach me the right way, but I just couldn’t get it. But, in my mind, art least I wasn’t getting food down my shirt!
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My favourite eating and cooking tool
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What’s the secret of chopsticks? We love Chinese food in our house, eat out at a Chinese buffet on occasion and recieved a beautiful Chinese dinner set for Christmas from my mother.
My partner makes using chopsticks look disgracefully easy, but when I pick them up I can’t quite get the knack!
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wow interesting, I am a Chinese but I didn’t know so much about chopsticks until I read this!
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I’ve often wondered what on earth made people start eating with sticks, it just seems like making things so much harder than they need to be. On the other hand, it gives you time to work up an appetite and chew your food properly while you grapple with your food. It wouldn’t work for jelly and custard though.
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love the daily quote, thanks for the chuckles!
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