Do you share your food?
 

In general, I don't. I'm not sure why, it's just a personal thing...if I do share, I must make an agreement with the other person beforehand so I know what's expected.

Once I had a friend just reach over to my plate with his fork and in the course of this action he tells me he wants to try my meal. I instinctively grabbed his hand and asked "what the heck are you doing?" :)

I know it's a great idea to share food (so people get to taste things they may want in the future), but I really don't like it. I'm okay if we "make a deal," but people who think my plate is their plate...it bugs me.

I have a feeling that men and women will give different answers. ;)

If I'm having dinner with a business colleague that I know well, I may comment that what he's having for dinner sounds good. Often, he will offer a bite. If he doesn't, I sneak a bite when he goes to the loo. :D

I was in a restaurant in Vancouver and a man did not finish his breakfast and asked another diner (who appeared to be a stranger) if he wanted to finish his meal,the guy said yes and was handed the plate he scrapped the hash browns off the plate and ate the toast.At first that appeared very strange to me but after thinking about it remembered that in the 50s and 60s that was not all that unusual.To offer someone (a stranger) an uneaten item off your plate.Or when flying perhaps offering the person next to you an uneaten item off your tray.

When I'm eating with friends I consider it perfectly normal to share food, and I enjoy being able to try different things. I especially like eating out family style, so you get lots of different choices, and if you have everyone order a dish of their choice. They get their favourite + variety.

As far as offering food to strangers/receiving food. I'm usually a little less willing to do, but frankly its not that big of a deal. I'll offer my food on an airplane if its sealed--like a yogurt, or a sealed snack etc. But I won't offer something uneaten off of my plate.

At a Flyertalk dinner at Masa's in San Francisco several years back, a few of us shared each others tastings dinner. We're family aren't we. :D

dh

Depends, if I'm with family/friends/coworkers (we're a tight knit bunch) at a restaurant, then yea I'll ask if they want a bit of mine in exchange for theirs.

On an airline next to someone I know??? NO WAY (unless it's a hot, young, single woman who's hungry) :-)

I agree...I would never "assume" I could take a taste of someone else's selection. If it sounded appealing to me, however, I wouldn't hesitate in asking if I can sample a small bit. :)

If someone shows any interest whatsoever in what I'm about to eat I offer them a sample, even if I've never met them before. If they take a portion I'm much happier about accepting a taste of theirs.

I prefer this to happen as quickly as possible after being served so that any germs from people's cutlery are not included (I'll never use anything that's been in my mouth to aportion portions).

With my husband and immediate family, 'mi plato es tu plato'. My husband does take much more stuff from my plate than I do from his. The only things I can't stand sharing are especially prized morsels that I might have saved until last (so that I can fully savour them). Bugs me no end when these get filched from under my nose - thankfully not too often!

My SO and I always share and taste off each others plates. Frequently we will even just order one salad, one entree and one dessert just so we can share. I'll always offer a taste or ask for a taste if I'm interested when it's a friend or family. However at a business setting I would never contemplate sharing my food. Just seems a bit odd in that environment.

I think that when you're trying new foods that sharing is part of the fun, if everyone has ordered something different and there is an offer made. Just reaching over and taking food from a friends plate when they haven't invited it is just plain rude, and I wouldn't do that. I'd be very annoyed if a friend did it to me too.

I sometimes order sharer platters when eating out if it's food I haven't tried before. It's fun, and lets you try stuff without needing to order more than you can or want to eat.

I generaly will share if asked if I know the person well. It has to be at the start of the meal, and I WILL DECIDE what chunk/slice/whatever you will take.

In our family it is expected that no one will order the same dish at anytime so that we may try as many items as possible.

Most of my friends have adopted this attitude as well.

I would not dream of doing this in a business environment except with very close clients who I know VERY well and have dined with plenty of times and only then if it is just the two of us.

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among my close circle of friends, there will be detailed negotiations over the menu and the possibility of swapskis....if you get the veal, I'll get the lamb, and we'll switch..oftentimes these trades involve three or more people, so that the whole restaurant menu gets sampled. We also do this in my family, except for my father, who never shares; if you want something on his plate, you have to get there early and help yourself. I would not share, nor expected to share with, people I didn't know very well.

^ Luv it!! I always want to try everything on the menu, so I really enjoy "Menu Sampler" DOs!!!!

Always with friends and family. If someone else is looking at my food with those "hungry eyes" I invite them to have a little. My offer is almost always reciprocated. Then again my family has the tradition of getting desserts and passing them around the table so everyone gets to try everything.

I'm also currently in China where most food is on a lazy susan and everyone just digs in comunally with chopsticks.

I hate in when people just reach into my plate with out asking or anything. But I never had the guts to grab their hand and stop them
. i usually just grit my teeth.

I love to share. The portions are so big, it is easy and saves tons of money to split a meal. Also in a big group we always order 1 or 2 deserts and lots of spoons. But I agree, I would never just take food off of someone's plate without being asked first. If something looks super good, I may ask to taste, but it depends on how well I know the person.

Yes, with current family, but it was a learned behavior.

When I was growing up it was never done in my natal family.

Somewhere in my life, I've developed a distaste for sharing my food if the other person's already eaten from their fork/spoon/chopsticks/whatever.

The other day, a co-worker helped himself to some marinara sauce from my lunch and all I could do is blink at him, "Did you just take food from my plate?" in horror.

I don't share with my boys either, unless they have clean utensils. :( If they want to finish off something of mine, they are more than welcome to it, but I can't bring myself to eat anything of theirs if they've already been at it.

I wish I knew where this odd behavior of mine has come from; it certainly wasn't there when I was a child!

My girlfriend and I often share at restaurants as the portions at US restaurants are just silly and we don't believe in doggie bags.

I don't share! hehehe I do, just for a bite or two if I want to try someone's food.

I never offer my food to anyone unless I don't like it.

Depends on who I'm dining with & when it is. I offer a small portion before I start if the other person showed interest but wouldn't offer or ask for sampler if already started eating. Once, a client dipped his fork into my pasta before I could object. I pretended to eat because I didn't want to offend the client, but it was so strange. He asked if he could taste my pasta but didn't wait for my answer.:confused:

My bf and I often order stuff to share, or we each offer one another a sample.

I would never ever just grab something off someone else's plate. Very rude!

Often my wife and I will look at a menu and decide on the same thing. That doesn't seem particularly adventuresome, so the 2nd choice is also selected and the sharing begins.

We have a pan-Asian place that does small plates along with sushi. Perfect for sampling and sharing.

guilty as charged. Most of my family and friends are sharers, and I have occasionally just forgotten who I'm with and reached over to grab off of someones plate who wasn't exactly enthused about it. Apologies in advance if I ever to it to you :)

You may not have the opportunity to apologize if you do it to me. :D

Call it the only child syndrome but I hate sharing food and will only allow my wife to pick off my plate since that is solely under duress. FYI, the reverse does not hold true, I never pick off her plate

:) Understood. I'm an only and I don't like to share either.

I can't find the story right now, but after Julia Child's death I read that she hated the whole fuss and production of sharing plates when out with a group of people. She basically said, "I order what I want, and if I had wanted what you ordered I would have ordered that instead. I want to eat all of what *I* ordered." That's a paraphrase.

It was a relief to hear that. :D

Always wondered why I never trusted that woman! :p

If you're from an asian culture, I saw that sharing food is natural. Actually, they put all their side-dishes in the middle and pick from it... It's quite amusing and admirable, actually.

This is also how Spaniards eat - as do most other cultures from around the Mediterranean (think mezze). Didn't realise we were providing amusement in eating this way... ah well, some folks are easily entertained :)

At most restaurants, I dont food share, but when I am visiting home, we always go out to eat at Benihana, a family favorite, and there we have an elaborate routine that is basically a Chinese Fire Drill of food swapping...organized chaos that we have got down to a science...

I'm Jewish. Sharing food is not a choice, it's a law. :D

(Perhaps among Italians too?)

If I'm out eating tapas, or mezza, or family-style Chinese/Italian/your-fave-here etc., that's fine. It's supposed to be communal, therefore sharing in those contexts isn't an interesting discussion.

What I thought we were talking about was situations where ordering individual entrees is the norm, and whether sharing is acceptable. No?

I've been told to share my food.. especially when the food on the
other plates looks better than mine :D

I love to share, and when at a restaurant where the menu has a number of enticing dishes I will push for sharing before we even order so that (assuming everyone agrees, which they usually do) we all get something different.

I belong to a neighborhood dining club where 12 of us dine at a nice restaurant once per month and basically take a bite, pass the plate. It is fun!

When I'm dining with Mrs. V407r, sharing is not a question. I HAVE to share. If she wants me to try something, shes cramming a fork or chopsticks in my face. If she wants something of mine she's taking it. It's a little annoying sometimes but what can I do????

As far as sharing with friends, I don't have a problem as long as they ask and hopefully offer something in return. I've been on flights with fellow travelers who have offered me a portion of their meal, if it was something they didn't care for. I'm a hearty eater so any extras are appreciated. :)

Yes, I've eaten with Filipinos, Koreans etc. They just put it in the middle and everyone helps themselves. It really fosters a sense of family and well, sharing...

Quite!^