Tiny Shell Spoon: Immensely Joyful Eating Experience

One of my most adored kitchen items is also one of the smallest. My Vietnamese mother of pearl spoon may be tiny in size (about 3 inches long), but it yields large amounts of joy.

Have you ever eaten off a mother of pearl spoon? They are usually used for caviar, but I find them divine for eating yogurt, smoothies or puddings and using them to swirl the milk into my tea. Eating off a non-metal surface really affects the taste and mouth feel of whatever it is you're indulging in. It's an experience quite silky and "matte." What I mean by that is there's an absolute neutrality as the food meets the tongue, and the unfamiliar, smaller vessel throws off the eating norms as well.

While traveling to Vietnam and several other countries, I quickly started a motley spoon collection for a few reasons: they were beautiful, small and light (ease of packing) and I knew when I returned to the US, I'd use one of my travel spoons everyday for tea/coffee routine, reminding me of my adventuring days.

I highly recommend this practice, or just starting to seek out interesting spoons wherever you are. You may be delighted in what you find!

(Image: Leela Cyd Ross)

Comments (7)

I can so appreciate something small bringing you such joy and comfort. For me it isn't a spoon, but my porcelain tea mug. These little things are truly one of life's greatest pleasures!
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My mother sent me a pair of tiny spoons in a care package, along with a beautiful earthenware teapot and teacup, all from Japan. I loooove them. They are so cute and aesthetically pleasing. The tiny spoons are actually really useful for things other than tea as well, like scooping jam and honey.

I have a set of porcelean tiny spoons and no matter what I eat, if I use one of those spoons, it tastes...better. Ice cream is the best. Tiiiny bites at a time with the small spoons and it makes even plain boring flavors taste heavenly!

Hi Leela Cyd Ross and anyone else who's traveled in SE Asia

I really enjoyed this article and your post on the chopstick collection. I'm travelling to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand and I was wondering if I could get pointers on where to find interesting chopsticks and mother of pearl spoons. I want to give a collection as a gift.

Thanks

I have found my people! I love this post and all the comments. I have no mother of pearl spoon and I want one.

Bendao,

Any major market selling loads of stuff -- you will find many of these types of markets in all of SE Asia-- will inevitably have a few stalls dedicated to chopsticks, small bowls, and pretty spoons. Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is where I made some purchases. Also, there's Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is no doubt the biggest shopping market in Bangkok. I bought a lot of spoons off of restaurants, if I liked my spoon, I'd ask to buy it for a couple bucks (they almost always said yes and thought I was crazy).

Bon voyage! email me if you want more recommendations. I'm pretty easy to find.

Leela

Thank you much for the advice!