Multicultural Manners

One cold, rainy day, Grace stops at a Koreatown restaurant. After ordering food, the waiter asks what she would like to drink and Grace orders hot tea.

The waiter responds, “We don’t have any hot tea,” but suggests, “Let me bring you some hot water.”

Grace impudently asks, “Who drinks hot water without tea?”

The waiter answers, “We do.”

What did he mean?

In contrast to the Chinese and Japanese custom of drinking hot tea with meals, Koreans do not. Grace learned that they drink tea before or after meals. In addition, their tea is often made from barley, not from tea leaves. With meals, Koreans serve hot or cold water or soft drinks.

Every culture has rules about acceptable and unacceptable food combinations. Sometimes the idea may be obvious, like not eating pickles with milk. Other taboos are based on religious laws. Orthodox Jews cannot not mix meats with dairy foods; there must be a six-hour interval between eating these two products; they must be prepared in separate pots and served on separate dishes. In the film “Big Night,” Primo, the chef, becomes irate when one of his customers orders meatballs and spaghetti after eating risotto, a rice dish. Primo refuses to serve two starches. In his Italian restaurant he maintains strict rules about what combinations of food can and cannot be served.