finger in preps...offerable or not?

[Guest guest]

Last nite, in the kitchen, our pujari (we will call him "Dasa" to protect his

anonymnity) had to use store milk for the Deity's resting because the milk

from the evening milking was not back yet.

 

The store bought milk was organic and had a hunk of cream on top. Dasa was

disturbed by this cream plug and did not know what to do. I told him to poke

it, which I was informed was not acceptable, because of his fingernail

touching the milk. Another pujari, Dasi, told a pastime of Srila Prabhupada

not accepting a glass of water which someone had stuck their finger in.

 

I said okay, but my argumentative nature kicked in. I said it makes sense to

me, because the water is uncooked. But the milk will be cooked. My service

here is cooking...and I use my hands a lot. I told Dasi that practically

everything she eats has my hands in it. So, to make the situation a little

lighter, I joked that I will post it on Com to get some clarity.

 

So, the question is...what is the story about using your hands which naturally

include the fingernail. Does cooking or not cooking have anything to do with

it?