Loud chewing and slurping? In these countries it’s not bad manners, it’s the sound of respect
You slurp a noodle and someone looks at you sideways. Or you drink a hot broth and you hear your mother's voice saying: "don't make noise, that's not polite". In many countries, people has grown up with this warning: the good eater is the one who is not heard.
Silence when eating is still synonymous with propriety. But what here is associated with politeness, in other places is confused with coldness.
There are countries where eating without noise would be almost a discourtesy, a lack of enthusiasm or even respect. Here are some of them.
Japan
In Japan, slurping ramen noodles is not only allowed, but expected. It is a way of showing appreciation for the dish and also a practical technique: by sucking in air along with the noodles, the broth cools slightly and the aromas intensify.
The sound, far from being annoying, is interpreted as a sign of restrained enthusiasm. In a ramen-ya full of customers, that symphony of rhythmic slurping sounds like collective satisfaction. Eating in silence, there, would be rarer than eating with noise.
China
In many regions of China, the sounds of eating, the final sip of tea, the murmur of broth, the clacking of chopsticks while serving, are a natural part of the meal. There is no desire to disturb, but to share.
To make noise is to participate in the social act: to celebrate that there is food, company and abundance. Absolute silence, on the other hand, may seem forced, a gesture of distance or solemnity unbecoming of the table.
India
In India, eating also sounds. The gesture and the noise are confused: the fingers sink into the rice, mix with the curry and, in that soft splash, you hear something more than food. It is a way of feeling it, of making it part of the body. The metallic sound of the thali and the stainless steel glasses, the voices across the table, the murmur that accompanies each bite: there, enjoyment is heard.
Even the tea has its own noise. At some street stalls, chai is served in small earthenware pots that, when finished, are thrown to the ground and broken without a care in the world. That thud marks the end of the break, a small ritual that belongs to daily life. A far cry from the silence with which, in London, a cup of tea is drunk.
Arab countries
In many Arab countries, silence at the table can be uncomfortable. Eating is a communal, noisy and generous act: people talk, laugh, comment loudly on the dish and urge the guest to repeat. Hospitality rings out (literally). The bustle of an Arab table is not disorder, but celebration; the audible sign that food fulfills its most ancient function: to bring together.
When the body also speaks
And not just the sound of the sip or mouthful: in some cultures, even the sounds of the body are part of the act of eating. There is no country where burping is officially "polite," but there are places where it is not offensive if it occurs naturally. In cultures where food has a communal and abundant value (rural China, India, the Middle East), the body is not dissociated from the act of eating: what is repressed here can be understood there as a sincere appetite response.
The West: the refinement of silence
The sound of food is a language, and each culture interprets it in its own way. Where some hear lack of manners, others perceive gratitude. In Japan or China, a sip can be a way of saying "I like it". In other countries, the same gesture would be enough to provoke more than one sidelong glance. In the end, it's not a matter of doing it right or wrong, but of understanding that each table, each culture, has its own language. And at yours, to what extent is silence when eating or drinking synonymous with good manners?
Patricia González
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