meals for the maid

[marie]

Hi.
I'm thinking of getting a maid since I'm expecting another child soon.
Well,how much should I budget for the maid's meal a month?
And,what do they normaly eat? same meals as us?

[joop]

They normally take same meals as us.

[Animal Rights]

You know Im really surprised with you foreigners who and what do you think you all are. What do you think maids eat- SHIT arent they humans .What makes you think they cant eat what you eat. It is people like you that make us think that you foreigners are blady lower in brains.than our 3 cats that we have.

[seraphim]

I think marie was just asking a question, animal rights. She didn't indicate that she though the maid shouldn't be eating the same food. Only that she was unsure of what the maid would be willing to eat. If you've never had a maid before, or your new maid is from a different country than the previous one, you might not be sure of her preferences. And many maids prefer to cook their own rice dishes rather than eating the western foods they mainly cook for the family that employs them.

Almost all of the expat families I know of treat their maids very well. However there are isolated cases of local employers mistreating their maids (burning them with hot irons, overworking them, not allowing them proper meals,etc), that I have read about in the news. Please note the word isolated.

[Sonus]

She didn't indicate that she though the maid shouldn't be eating the same food. Only that she was unsure of what the maid would be willing to eat.

Just to addon, Marie might be wondering cos' different religions got different practices. As we know, Muslims maids from Indonesia does not eat pork or not used to western style of cooking. Anyway regarding eating habits of maids, informations can be collected from Maid Agencies. No worries, just ask.

[Wham]

Marie - Given the nasty and ignorant response that ''animal rights'' hit you with - i also feel compelled to respond that you had a very valid question that i have heard many other people ask. My wife is from the Philippines and there are MANY things that she eats that i (a new yorker) do not like - and i eat almost anything. We simply have different ideas when it comes to certain comfort foods.
The best thing to do is to budget something small but reasonable (say sing $20 to $25/week) for the maid to stock some basic additional food for those time when she wants her own thing - but odds are that quite often she will eat what you do. If she seems to need more or less - then you can easily increase or decrease her budget. You would probobly also want to pick up a small rice cooker (really quite a necessity here) and a 10 pound bag of rice to keep in the cubbard as there are many things that you might like to eat that she would be also happy to eat if served with some white rice on the side. Also - who knows - you may like some of the things that she cooks. If she is from the Philippines try Chicken Adobo - it is delicious and is now MY comfort food. She may also turn you onto some fruits that you might otherwise not try.
As for ''animal rights'' - rest assured that her response was an isolated case of someone having a bad day and misreading what you wrote. It is symtomatic of a very small percentage of the population that are simply not very proficient in the English language and therefore prone to misunderstanding.

[marie]

Thank you,guys for the answers.
Baisically,I was just wondering if eating western meals everyday might be a stress for them. For us,what we eat is very important.
Anyway,I didn't mean to discriminate the maids,and just wanted to know how to make their life confortable here. That's all.

[beenhere10years]

Marie,

I always ask my maid if there is anything I can get for her when I'm going to the store. She always says 'no' but I always ask. I try to watch carefully to see what she does eat & then make sure we always have it in the house. We had a maid who loved salmon so I'd make a point to buy her some and explain it was just for her. She was always very appreciative. If we are going out for dinner and it's convenient I'll ask if I can bring home something like bee hoon or fried rice. I always make it clear she can walk to the food court and pick up her own dinner anytime. Most maids won't tell you what they like, you just have to pick up on the clues.



Animal Rights,

Your ignorance could choke a horse. I've had maids that don't eat beef, don't eat chili, don't take sweets, loved bananas, etc... Marie was trying to do the right thing. You need some anger management and right now.

[Bitko]

The best thing is to ask your maid what she would like to eat. We are from South Asia, we have always had Filipina maids, some of them ate our food, and others found it too hot and spicy, but we made sure that we brought everything for them to cook and eat and be happy. But whenever we cooked something that was not hot or spicy, we always offered them to try.

[dot dot dot]

[fimbles]

take her grocery shopping with you and have her point out what she likes to eat. i keep a jar with money for my maid to grocery shop when she needs it, i find filipino maids very honest and hard working, best not to direct them and let them find their own marks. my maid listen to music and watches tv freely at home, i never restrict her and yet she never abuses of being free to manage the house. i believe in beeing respectful to others to get the same in return. some exceptions will prove me wrong, but they remain exceptions.

[Strong Eagle]

Just to think out of the box: Why don't you eat what she will want to cook for herself as well, might be an eyeopener?

Eric

My maid likes wok fried breaded Spam for breakfast. I think I'll stick with a couple of cut up grapefruits and Special K.

Just to add to the thread: My maid is a very good cook... fixes all sorts of things... willing to try a new cookbook... and only sometimes will she eat what she cooks for us... I have no idea what the criteria are.

[Bafana]

Cold Maggie Mie in the Toilet - Oh I'm sorry thats what the locals like Animal Rights feed their maids...

I usually get the maid to cook whats she likes and modify it so its not too full of oil and has some more fresh veggies and stuff...

Indonesian food rocks...

[Guest]

I am glad you said that re Maggie and the Animal Rights Bonehead.

I have been really irritated since i read what Animal Rights wrote and secretly hoping that Animal Rights would write something else just to further expose what a complete idiot they are. Most Westerns that i know treat their maids EXTREMELY well compared to others within the region.

[Strong Eagle]

I am glad you said that re Maggie and the Animal Rights Bonehead.

I have been really irritated since i read what Animal Rights wrote and secretly hoping that Animal Rights would write something else just to further expose what a complete idiot they are. Most Westerns that i know treat their maids EXTREMELY well compared to others within the region.

My Chinese neighbor said he would never hire a maid who has worked for an expat because they are "spoiled".