194 CultureShock! Egypt
even greater appreciation, but once is certainly enough if
you can’t possibly hold any more food. More than twice
is defi nitely too much, however. I fi nally fi gured out that
putting a little food on my plate (for example, by not trying
all dishes at once), and spreading the food out a little
to make the plate look full, meant I had more room for
seconds or thirds. This works particularly well when food is
served buffet style.What happens if your host serves you a food that you
absolutely hate and cannot tolerate to even think of eating?
In my case, this happens whenever I face internal organs
or seafood. Seafood is easy—I have a medical allergy
excuse and this is always understood. But what do you do
if you just absolutely deplore the taste of something being
served and have no medical excuse? Probably the easiest
thing to do in order not to insult your host, is to take just
a little of whatever it is you do not want, then kind of
move it around with your fork or in some way ‘pretend’
to eat it. Never say something like, ‘Oh, I’ll pass on that—
I don’t like it’.
Taking some of the food offered is especially important
if the meal is rather formally served by servants to each