chopsticks

[Jo-Ann]

Since the ivory ban, I'd heard that the chopsticks sold in China --- that look and feel like ivory are really camel bone. Actually, I've seen and felt them and they indeed look and feel like ivory. But if it is an animal product and that bothers people, then these would be a no-no, also.

I love the story that a famous Chinese cookbook author tells about her chopsticks. As a child, she and her siblings each had nursemaids who would call the children to dinner and would place their own special jade chopsticks at their places. The author was annoyed when her nursemaid was a little too slow, so to show her annoyance, she berated the nursemaid, and either threw the chopsticks or did something else to cause them to break. Her father, to teach her a lesson about humbleness, fobade her to any chopsticks but plain bamboo ones. And so it was. To this day she looks at her chopsticks as a reminder of that lesson. (wish I could remember the author)

[bhchao]

If you are visiting Korea, expect a spoon because many Koreans use it to eat rice, although chopsticks are also used. Personally I think eating rice with a spoon feels a little odd. I like the Korean stainless steel chopsticks even though they may be a little more difficult to maneuver than wooden or ivory ones. The use of stainless steel chopsticks was encouraged by the government to help save natural wood resources.

If you are a guy and would like to impress a Korean woman at the table, adept handling of stainless steel chopsticks will be key.

[paul62tiger]

Hi Lorenzo,

I have no problem with using animal parts when the animal is used for food.

I am not too keen on an animal being killed for a pair of chopsticks and would not have them in the house.

Not getting at you but thats just my morals.

Now where can i get Korean stainless steel chopsticks. This, i have to try.