Laos: Eating Customs

The relaxed atmosphere of a Lao meal even invests procedures which are surprisingly formal. These have been described by Doré (1980), who explains that in Lao life the concept of piep (which may be loosely translated as ‘prestige’) is of importance. Similarly, the concept of lieng (feeding, giving nourishment) is a basic one which includes what might be called contractual obligations. Whenever a Lao eats a meal he must do so in a manner which respects the first of these concepts; and whenever he eats outside his own home he must respect them both. This means, in practice, that at a family meal the father and mother (being the persons of highest rank in the family unit) take the first mouthfuls, followed by the other family members in descending order of age. Once this ‘first tasting’ has been accomplished, the meal appears to be free for all, but in fact is still subject to rules; for example, that no one should help himself at the same time as anyone else or go in front of a person of higher rank, which would cause that person to lose piep.