Kamayan

Common card · No. 423036

Kamayan is a Filipino cultural term for the various occasions or contexts in which pagkakamay (Tagalog: "[eating] with the hands") is practiced. Eating with hands is also known as kinamot or kinamut in Visayan languages. While eating with the hands started out as a common practice before the arrival of European colonizers, its cultural significance has become elevated in the Philippines' postcolonial culture, since the practice had been discouraged by the Philippines' Spanish and American colonizers who instead encouraged the use of spoons and forks. While kamayan or pagkakamay can be an ordinary everyday activity for many in their own homes, it may also be part of communal feasting (called salu-salo in Tagalog). Such feasts traditionally served the food on platters laid on large leaves, such as banana or breadfruit, spread on a table, with the diners eating with their hands from their own plates. A separate tradition which involves the food being served directly on large leaves spread...

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