Summer Rolls

When the temperatures soar, we always go looking for cooler foods at home, especially ones that we can eat outside on our shaded front porch. Summer rolls fit that bill nicely. With almost no effort and with about anything in the refrigerator/garden, you can have a cool delicious dinner. Thank you Vietnam!

Ready for Summer Rolls

Step 1: Soak the Rice Paper

Step 2: Build the Roll

Step 3: Dip Away

I usually make nước chấm, a fish sauce based dipping sauce, for our summer rolls, but alas, out here in farm country fish sauce is hard to come by and I was almost out. Instead, we made do with a sauce of peanut butter, lime juice, fish sauce, sriracha, and garlic.

It was a blast for us, eating our first outdoor meal of the year out on the porch, rolling the little packages like burritos and stuffing our faces. There is something that we really enjoy about eating with our hands: it seems so much more intimate in a way.

But I found out in the restaurant business that Ann and I are in the minority. While Americans will make exceptions for hot dogs and corn on the cob, many, the majority I would wager, have an issue with eating food with their hands. I remember seeing customers in the dining room of the restaurant struggling to eat mussels, summer rolls, pork belly tacos, and flat breads with a knife and fork.

At least for our tasting menus, I would have the servers discreetly let customers know that it was OK and even preferable to eat a particular course with their fingers. Still, a significant percentage of customers couldn't forgo the knife and fork. We Americans have a built-in bias: eating without utensils is somehow improper and low class.

I wonder what they would make of our late night dinners at Shiv's restaurant where there were no utensils on the table, only a basket of naan, straight out of the tandoor. Or a foray to an Ethiopian restaurant where injera stands in for the naan.

If sight, smell, taste, and sound (think of the hiss of sizzling beef on a black iron skillet) are all part and parcel of the dining experience, why make an exception for touch?