With Food, Sharing is Caring

This past weekend we celebrated my friend’s birthday (pause for a shout out here: what up M! Happy Birthday!) Thanks to her girlfriend's planning skills, (what up K!) we had a perfect meal at a tapas restaurant: 14 guests, 20 tapas, two large paella dishes, and pitchers of sangria, oh and one slice of rich chocolate cake for the birthday girl. The best thing about the meal, besides the company, of course, was the fact that we really shared everything.

Each dish arrived at the table and we all dutifully shoveled a few scoops on our plates and passed it on. Everyone got to try a bit of everything, everyone rolled themselves home after and everyone got their fill of sangria. But more importantly, we not only sat down and enjoyed a meal together, but we shared it.

When we talk about sharing food, often it is a bite off a fellow diner’s plate or offering the unwanted side of fries to a friend. But really sharing is something that is quite unique from that. Sitting down at a table “family style” is something that truly brings people together. There is no food possession—it is all our food, and with the loss of said possession we seem to lose some of that stuffiness, uptightness, or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it is the act of taking food from the same dish, maybe it is the passing of plates, or maybe it just demands more social interaction that triggers something in us to open up a bit more, drop the barriers we put up, and be comfortable with one another.

Think about the times that you ate with someone. Then think about the times that you shared food with someone. Often the times you share is a time with family, old friends, or new budding relationships, but more often than not, it seems to be with people we care about.

Sharing a meal, not only brings people together for a common purpose, but it creates an intimate experience for the diners. Along with the fact that you are sharing a moment, you are also sharing the experience. And with that said, a meal allows us have this intimate experience with not just one person, but with however many people you want. It can create a new bond for some—you didn’t just go out to eat together, you shared a meal together.

So, as we sit down this week for Thanksgiving dinner across America, whether you are with family, friends, or people you are meeting for the first time, take the opportunity to appreciate the experience of that meal. Not only to appreciate the food, but to appreciate the people that you are sharing that meal with.

Happy Eating, Happy Sharing, and Happy Thanksgiving!