Food Rules

The New York Times (March 9): "I’ve also found that many ethnic traditions have their own memorable expressions for what amounts to the same recommendation. Many cultures, for example, have grappled with the problem of food abundance and come up with different ways of suggesting you should stop eating before you’re completely full. The Japanese say “hara hachi bu” (“eat until you are four-fifths full”). Germans advise eaters to “tie off the sack before it’s full.” And the Prophet Muhammad recommended that a full belly should contain one-third food, one-third drink and one-third air. My own Russian-Jewish grandfather used to say at the end of every meal, “I always like to leave the table a little bit hungry.”" Continue reading.