The Last Straw

America is obsessed with food cleanliness. You order a happy meal (not that you should), and the straw that comes with your coke arrives wrapped in thin white paper. Why? Do the kitchen staff have a habit of licking straws? And what's the deal with straws that have only a small piece of paper left, covering their tip? How can we be sure that nobody nibbled on the lower end? Or even - god forbid - nibbled on the top end of the straw, and then placed the paper right back on? And while we're at it, why wrap only the straw in paper? Why not the cup itself? Or the fork, knife and plate? What about the hamburger we're being served, isn't it more hygienic to wrap it in paper while handling it? or wrap the cow that produced it?

Where I'm coming from, people are not afraid of a little dirt in their food. It's part of the culture - you can call it the "secret sauce" of middle-eastern food. The last time I went to the local falafel shop in Central Square, I asked the guy to get me 10 falafel balls. I know how these shops work and I don't expect their kitchen to be clean, but hey, any bacteria that survives deep frying will be killed by the hot sauce - the schug. He used tongs to remove the falafel balls from the oil, and then used them again to move the balls to a plastic take-out container. So far no hands! I was totally amazed by his adaptation of the American standards. The guy was about to hand them to me, but something stopped him. He looked at the box with a frown and one by one, he poked his index finger into each of them, counting from 1 to 10. Yup, 10 balls mister, as you asked. Bon Apetite.

The falafel was delicious :-)