Although following pictures are from some Saudi scene where this method of sharing a family meal is still practiced.In tribal areas and in feudal weddings of Pakistan this is how the food is served and eaten.
There are no cutlery , you use your hands to eat , there are no plates for individuals to eat in.
Some of you might have eaten like this. I confess I have been as a kid. Now I will be disgusted with this method of meal sharing.
There might be other food eating customs in your family, tribe, brathery or region , share if you know of some.
Not like above mentioned picture but as a child I remember eating "maata karae dodae" a "Pukhtoon" dish with my siblings in a big "tasla" At that time we were four, each child had his own sides & used a tablespoon to eat.
Not sure if I can eat like that with all of my siblings anymore. Maybe just 2 of them.
Growing up whenever we visited Pakistan and if Nani made this dish she would always serve it in individual dishes but I have heard in Pukhtoon households its customary to serve this dish in one big "Thaal"
Honestly, there will be no disgust if we all follow the proper sunnah of eating food and use the thaal method. In the pic, you can see that one guy is using his left hand and two have their all fingers (one has his whole hand) inside the food; a total disregard if sunna
there is dish called 'painda'. it is made with a paper thin roti called mana'e and chicken salan.the roti is broken into small pieces and put in the thal.the chicken salan is put on top of roti and it is served with raita.this dish is eaten in dera ismail khan region and is very tasty.
To be honest and modern Arab Culture, this large thaal is still used .. though it depends on the people how cultured and mannered they are .. I have been to several Arab weddings where they had the thaal sharing and the ladies were very well behaved as they all ate peacefully from their own side of the plate ..
I think its a very beautiful tradition of the Arabs , if followed keeping the sunnah in mind and the manners ..
Sunnah has nothing to do with spreading of communicable diseases. How do you know the person sitting next to you and eating out of the same thaal has diarrhea and did not wash hand properly after the last visit to toilet. Even if that guy and you are following sunnah still you can get sick. In a situation when there is an Anthrax scare going on you cannot even touch a person let alone share a meal.
Some cultural traditions coming from sunnah are not obligatory to be followed and it is one of them. If we follow sunnah to the letters then we all have to dress like Arabs , travel on the back of camels and do not go to doctors when we get sick.
with all due respect to the arab culture and all … WHAT on god’s green earth are these folks eating??? never mind the sharing part, the food itself is turning my stomach
Not like above mentioned picture but as a child I remember eating "maata karae dodae" a "Pukhtoon" dish with my siblings in a big "tasla" At that time we were four, each child had his own sides & used a tablespoon to eat.
Not sure if I can eat like that with all of my siblings anymore. Maybe just 2 of them.
Growing up whenever we visited Pakistan and if Nani made this dish she would always serve it in individual dishes but I have heard in Pukhtoon households its customary to serve this dish in one big "Thaal"
LOL...my mom still makes that dish at home, but we dont eat from one dish. The issue at my parents house is that no one eats at the same time, so everyone needs their own plate.
I have only eaten in the same thaal twice, and both times were with the same people, and I found one person kept taking food from around everyone elses "area"....and I dont like other peoples fingers and hands in my food, so I dont think I would be able to eat like that.
We used to eat from the same tray but it was only during ramadhan and abbu used to cook either a rice dish or thareed. The thareed was eaten with spoons but the rice dish was eaten with hands.
I remember abbu always made sure in telling me the most to eat from my side of the plate and not to have my eyes on the botee that other siblings got ... lol. It was a good experience but I don't think I would do it now. Plus we were constantly told to eat from our side, and were also taught how to eat with 2 fingers and a thumb and other manners were imparted. So I guess there was some teaching going on from my parents' side in all of us sharing a plate.
Now my husband won't eat in the same plate as me if I eat with my hands (rice).
My SIL is Jordanian and they eat 'Mansaff' out of a thaal too and make little balls and toss them into their mouths. I can't eat from a thaal or share a plate..
I had only heard of this method when I attended a wedding in Toronto some ten years ago.
When they rolled out the 4 foot thaals I was a bit scared of what was to follow but to my surprise it was a wonderful experience! The three or four main dishes were served into the center of the thaal and about six of us were able to sit around it and eat. Each person would use a serving spoon to put the food they wanted to eat in the space directly in front of them so that nobody's food was touching anyone else's. (There was about six inches of space between each place.)
It was a unique experience that I will never forget.
^ that is the perfect way of sharing food and totally gives an awesome experience …
I remember in Pakistan people are told to eat in the same plate coz is sai piyar berta hai .. i think its totally true … one of my friends once took me along to a family gathering and I was so surprised when the food got served .. basically it was some kind of a huge , thick leaf .. and three people would share food on that leaf … that was fun to eat
They were mixing east and west, sharing the meal in a thaal means that the thaal is full to the brim and everybody is sitting close enough to touch each other and no spoon is involved.
They were mixing east and west, sharing the meal in a thaal means that the thaal is full to the brim and everybody is sitting close enough to touch each other and no spoon is involved.