What’s mine is mine!
Is sharing caring? Columnist Maria believes it depends, and that the ‘sharing plates’ trend is a step too far.
Our columnist MARIA ...
... is from a city that is not very big but she has been living in a big city for a while now – amongst greengrocers, refreshment kiosks and international restaurants. She loves culinary and cultural diversity, is happy to try new things but also likes a bit of tradition. She feels that independent business owners give each place its unique character. On MPULSE, she writes about her observations and thoughts and sometimes asks experts about theirs.
Sharing is caring. A problem shared is a problem halved. And love is the only thing that doubles every time it’s shared. It’s all well and good, but sometimes a step too far, especially when it comes to food. At least for me. I stand by that opinion! I like to keep my plate to myself at breakfast, lunch and dinner. An unpopular stance that does not align at all with the ‘sharing plates’ gastronomy trend as celebrated by MPULSE columnist Max Strohe, for example .
For those who haven’t head about this trend yet, it refers to a variety of dishes that all guests eat together at the table.
Simply help yourself to any starter, main course or side dish – more power to Max and other people who are willing to share! I sincerely hope they enjoy it. What upsets me are people like my mum. Even when we go out for a traditional dinner, it looks like this: as soon as the waiter places the dishes in front of each individual (!) person on the table based on their respective order (!!), my mother’s fork immediately moves over the edges of the plate. ‘Oh, that looks yummy. Do you mind if I taste it?’ I’m told, even before I have taken my first bite. And before I can even answer this rather rhetorical question, my mum exclaims: ‘Mmh, delicious!’ My brother suffers the same fate, which is why he often casts a warning glance in our mother’s direction as soon as the waiter comes into view. But to no avail. This bad habit cannot be broken.
Coincidentally, the lady of the house also developed the bad habit of asking everyone at the table which dish they are choosing – and then placing the orders for everyone in the group during service. This is probably the reason for my aversion to ‘sharing plates’. And besides this somewhat restaurant-based psychological derivation (hey, this is a kitchen column after all 😉): ever since the coronavirus pandemic, we have only been touching door handles and touchscreens reluctantly with sleeves, but somehow people don’t mind poking in each other’s plates with a slobbery fork? Oh well.
The only benefit I can’t deny when it comes to the communal eating trend is that everyone can enjoy a variety of flavours and textures, as opposed to just one dish. However, this also begs the question: Where does this unwillingness to make decisions stem from? Do we always need to try a little bit of everything? Have we really lost the ability to just pick one item? The solution is actually quite simple: if I go out for schnitzel today, then I will only have schnitzel. Maybe I’ll be in the mood for pasta tomorrow. Or sushi. Or a poke bowl. In this way, sticking to one item (for today) can also create diversity (for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow...and next week).
That being said, a 2014 study by the University of Antwerp came to the conclusion that sharing our food makes us better people. So, if you like the new sharing culture (which, by the way, is not all that new, as we explain here), go for it! Just leave me out of it. But for all those who don’t care about their own first bite, I have a contact on speed dial: ‘Hey, it’s me. Hello, Mum...?’