Relearning how to eat 😂

When I moved to Portugal, I knew that I would have a LOT to learn:

• how to speak Portuguese
• how to navigate the immigration process
• how to navigate the healthcare system
• how many lbs are in a kg

And I could go on and on there!

One of the things that I was not expecting to include on that list for a move to Europe was how to eat! Like, if I had moved to a country where chopsticks are the norm, then I would have been more prepared to be challenged when dining out. But I’ve been successfully using a fork and knife for as long as I can remember!

Growing up in the US, I was accustomed to boneless fillets of fish, not getting the whole thing on my plate. Many types of smaller fish – including the hugely popular sardinhas – are generally cooked and served whole here. And the larger fish, like salmão (salmon), are served by the posta (basically a slice across the body, so it cooks more like a steak).

That type of cut makes it easier to pick the bones out before you take a bite. Eating a whole fish – especially something smaller like sardinhas – without picking a bunch of bones out of your teeth is an art!

This all came to mind yesterday. After more than 2 years here, I finally felt like I got it right! For the first time, I got all of the good meat without getting a whole bunch of bones in my mouth!

But it’s not just fish.

Maybe this says something about my background, but when I think ribs, I think restaurants that hand out wet wipes so you can wipe the sauce off your hands after you finish… Because of course you’re going to pick them up and eat them by hand.

I haven’t seen that here.

I think people pick the meat from the bone with their forks and knives, at least when out at a restaurant…

And then there’s pizza – of course you pick that up by the slice to eat, right?! Right???

Apparently that’s a huge tell that you’re an American. Portuguese people eat their pizza with forks and knives, too, at least at the more Italian style pizzerias. I think I’ve seen Portuguese people picking up pizza by the slice at the nearby Domino’s.

In the grand scheme of things, how much this matters depends on how comfortable you are standing out.

The first time I tried fresh grilled sardinhas, I made a total mess of things with the first one, and wound up asking an older woman at the next table – who was watching me make that mess – to teach me how to eat them. There’s a technique to get the bones out of the way, but it’s not at all intuitive and takes practice!

On the bright side, people seem to be genuinely kind and happy to help you learn. Or, at least, I can’t understand them yet if they’re actually making fun of me 🤣