One thing I've noticed about the German eating habits are that they are very proper. Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a party with a multitude of strangers. Although it was a very comfortable fun little apartment party with lots of good food I feel I made a minor social faux pas. There were no more clean plates and like someone who has had a few glasses of prosecco I decided against washing my own plate. I just wanted a few leftover noodles. So I of course put them on a napkin and went back to join my conversation.
The people were a few words before upset with the fact that I wasn't able to use a plate. It's ok - I just wanted a few noodles, they are so good! But right away people were almost jumping out of their chairs to help me. I had to assure people it was ok and that I wasn't offended there weren't enough plates.
I guess I never realized it at work either. Often people will bring leftovers, in tupperware containers, but they will never heat up their food in the tupperware container. It must always first be put on a plate.
It's very interesting because today two of the ladies brought soup. One was the kind where you add water to the bowl and the other had the one where you just heat up the container that the soup is packaged in. Both of them however put the soups in their own bowls to be eaten. Despite the fact that they didn't need to dirty a dish they didn't feel right (or so I assume) eating out of the container. I wonder if this is something that is common across germany, and if so, whether or not it is something that marketers feel they need to be explicitly aware of when they are introducing products.
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