20 Feb 2014

It may have been frowned upon for decades but eating with your hands in a restaurant now seems to be acceptable, it may seem so. So long as you do not lick your fingers clean afterwards.

Batswana are no strangers to modern day dining and it seems more and more Batswana are into dining especially in cities. But how does one navigate the potentially messy minefield of using their hands while dining? What is acceptable and not unacceptable? And who comes up with these rules?

According to Debrett’s, a respected etiquette expert in Britain, quoted in the Daily Mail,  it is okay to use your hands, provided one cuts the food into manageable pieces before picking it up, using a napkin to wipe messy hands and using a fork to pick up any food that spills on to the plate.

But in Botswana, what qualifies as a restaurant and how many are considered fine dining restaurant and which ones are not?I spoke to Kofi Shagwa, a young Motswana who once worked as line cook in Canada on what he thinks of using one’s hands when eating in a restaurant.

“Personally, I think it is just personal preference on what a person wants,” he said. “Fine dining restaurants will not force you to use a fork and knife in Botswana, but the ones I have worked for in Canada were kind of strict with that.” He said he did not mind using his hands when eating but it depended on what restaurants one went to.

“To the best of my knowledge, Chicken Licken, KFC and Ocean Basket are restaurants but I use hands there, but I would never use my hands where forks and knives have been provided for you at the table, that is just wrong and messy,” he said.

Shagwa said again it depended on the menu being served at that particular restaurant. “Again if someone cannot use a fork and knife properly, it is even more embarrassing for that person to use the fork and knife,” he said. “Just use your hands, but in a not so messy way.”

He said the issue of using one’s hands instead of utensils provided again also depends on the occasion. “Imagine you are attending an official event and then go on to use your hands to eat. If you cannot use the fork and knife do not bother eating or just wait for the dignitaries to leave then you can indulge,” he said.

The issue of using one’s hands to eat instead of utensils seems to be tricky, but it seems table manners are no longer about adhering to a rigid, and outdated, code of conduct. They exist for guidance but should not take away from the pleasure of sharing a meal. Ends