My mother says that rice is served first on the plate only to widows presumably symbolizing the bareness of their lives in a traditional society. sounds barbaric to me so i now serve it first in complete defiance;-)
On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 6:49 AM, Deepa Mohan <mohande...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 5:19 PM, Kiran Jonnalagadda <j...@pobox.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > Incidentally, something I didn't grow up with and therefore encountered > > with > > surprise in the homes of relatives: it is a great offense to serve rice > > before any other item. Serving rice first apparently implies you're too > > poor > > to eat anything else. > > > > Is this common practice elsewhere? > > > > I found this major difference between serving of food in Iyer and Iyengar > (two different kinds of Tamizh Brahmins): in Iyer households and feasts, > the > rice is served after several items have been served and before the sambar, > rasam, and thayir (yogurt)...in Iyengar households, the rice is always > served first. I have heard my aunts (Iyers) laughing about it and saying > "these Iyengars are crazy" or the equivalent! > > > In today's buffet/serve yourself world, of course, it's all irrelevant. > > Deepa. >
