Banquets have long been a part of our culture from medieval to modern times, food has been a way of sharing love and companionship with friends and family alike. The Romans famously took hours to complete their numerous courses, often forcing themselves to vomit in between courses to make room for the next one. Food is a unifier, whether is is for business and pleasure. Celebrations and commiserations, are often signified with a slap-up meal to either congratulate or to heal the pain.
Weddings are a celebration of love and the joining of two families, and wedding feasts are not only provided as welcome gesture, but also, like the peacock, a way to show off the wealth of the family bankrolling the wedding. Last week there was widespread coverage about the Indian Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, KV Thomas’, proposal to ban excessive feasts for their weddings.
According to The Guardian the government wants to introduce legislation to “curb profligacy” as 15% of grains and vegetables in India were “wasted through extravagant and luxurious functions”. The variety of food has increased the amount of food available to guests – not only are there dishes from north and south India, but also Mexico, Japan and European. Which of course sets a precedent for subsequent functions. Keeping up with the Joneses never was easy.
This isn’t just an Indian issue, this is common-place the world over. When in New York this summer, I saw cafes, deli’s and restaurant stuffed to the rafters with food but very few customers. And this is a city where people often eat out more often than cooking at home. There are numerous places that offer every cuisine known to man, the choice is relentless and confusing. My brain went into meltdown and I found myself blinded by the choice and wishing that I could forgo my morals and head to the nearest MacDonalds – at least there the menu was relatively simple.
How often have you lined up at a buffet, with the intention of only having a little, and before you know it, ended up with a full plate groaning with food before you’ve got to the dish that you had been eyeing up whilst in the line? Variety is the spice of life but too much diversity can create a polarisation of choice. When there are only a few menu choices, we can happily make an educated decision over whether we want the fish, chicken or vegetarian option. A buffet provides numerous options 20 dishes isn’t uncommon, we want to try everything because we believe we are ‘missing out’.
And then what do we do? We clear the plate because that is what we have been conditioned to do. How many of you had parents like mine who had a variety of phrases to dole out including: ‘Don’t forget about the starving children in Africa’, ‘If you don’t finish your plate then there’ll be no pudding’ and ‘Eat your meal before you can go out to play’. So now I’m feeling the brunt of it. I’ve got ‘clear plate’ syndrome. Or ‘eyes bigger than my belly’ syndrome. I don’t know which is worse.
I’m not the only one. I know scores of women who are in similar predicaments to me. We are in a food cul de sac. We try to keep up with male partners who have larger appetites, different hormonal and metabolic structures to us. Advertising screams or coaxes at us to treat ourselves with chocolate, cake and lashings of cream, because we are worth it. And then we have the slap around the chops from the other half of the media who peddle stories that skinny celebrity X eats what she likes and doesn’t exercise. And we put on weight.
Take a look at your portion sizes and think about whether they have always been that way. I know that the purchase of a new dinner set doubled the size of portions just because of the increased surface area. It took me years to realise until the penny dropped when I bought some 1950’s crockery. The circumference may be similar, but the well, i.e. where we put the food, is up to 40% less in size.
Portion size via plate choice is easier than telling your brain that you can’t have something, it avoids the mental nagging that wears us down. Try it out, it may take a little while to get used to, but taking the small plate to the buffet, serving your main meal on a side plate or choosing a starter as your main course really does make a difference. If you want seconds, you can have them, but wait ten minutes before returning to the table, just to make sure that you still have room. We can have our cake and eat it. But less is more.
Image by quinn.anya