Western food etiquette

Hotel reservations

In the West, when going to a restaurant to eat, you generally have to make a reservation in advance, and when making a reservation, there are a few points that you should pay special attention to make clear, first of all, you must explain the number of people and time, and secondly, you must indicate whether you want a seat with a good view or area. If it is a birthday or other special day, you can inform the purpose and budget of the banquet.

Arriving at the scheduled time is basic courtesy. No matter how expensive casual clothes are, you can't wear them casually, and it's common sense for European Americans to dress appropriately when you go to a restaurant to eat. To go to a fancy restaurant, men should dress neatly, and women should wear suits and shoes with heels. Men must wear a tie if formal attire is specified, and when entering the restaurant, men should open the door first, inviting women to enter.

Ladies should be asked to walk ahead. When seated and when food is served, women should be given priority. Especially for group activities, don't forget to let the ladies go ahead.

Seated

The best way to sit is from the left side. When the chair is pulled away, the body stands up straight almost at a distance from the table, and the leader will push the chair in, and when the leg bends against the chair behind it, it is ready to sit down. When eating, keep your upper arms and back back to the back of the chair and your belly about a fist away from the table. Sitting with your feet crossed is best avoided.

Order wine

In a fine dining restaurant, a bartender who is savvy with wine tasters brings you a wine list. If you don't know much about wine, it's best to tell him the dishes you choose, your budget, and the taste of your favorite alcohol, and the main bartender will help you choose. For the main course, if it's meat, it's served with red wine, and if it's fish, it's white. Before serving, a glass of lighter wine such as champagne, sherry or gil should be served.

The order in which the dishes are served

Western food

The formal order of serving a full Western meal is: (1) appetizer and soup (2) fish (3) fruit (4) meat (5) cheese (6) dessert and coffee (7) fruit, as well as aperitif and table wine. There is no need to order them all, it is rude to order too much but not finish eating. The slightly standard restaurants welcome guests who only order appetizers. An appetizer, a main course (fish or meat) and a dessert are the most appropriate combinations. A la carte doesn't start with an appetizer, but rather a main dish that you want to eat the most, followed by a soup that suits the main course.

How to use a napkin

After ordering, open the napkin before the appetizer arrives and fold it in a third of the way so that two-thirds is flat on your legs and cover your legs above your knees. It is better not to tuck the napkin into the neckline.

Pairing alcohol with food

People are often puzzled about what foods to eat with when drinking, and for hundreds of years, it seems that the choice of appropriate foods when drinking has become a pattern. However, with the emergence of new foods and new types of alcohol in modern society, these rules are becoming obsolete and less applicable.

If a friend tells you that you have to eat fish when drinking white wine, you can say that it is the 21st century, and the rules of the 19th century are outdated.

How to match drinking with food should first understand that life is different due to personal preferences, and the combination of drinking and food should undoubtedly be matched according to personal taste. You can order wine and food to your liking, even if it's not allowed by the rules, or if your friends at the same table are adamantly opposed. There are many things that seem inappropriate to match in life, and they still seem so harmonious. However, what should you do when you are still unsure about what wine to use for dinner? These so-called "principles" do not tell you what to eat when you drink, but only explain how food and alcohol affect and interact with each other. When drinking alcohol, it is important to go with food according to taste. Food and alcohol can be divided into four flavors, which defines the range of wine and food pairings: sour, sweet, bitter and salty.

Sourness: You may have heard that wine does not go well with salads because the acid in the salad greatly spoils the mellow aroma of the wine. However, if the salad is used in conjunction with acidic liquor, the acid contained in the wine will be broken down by the lactic acid of the salad, which is of course a great pairing. So, you can choose to eat sour wine with sour food. Acidic liquor is also delicious when shared with salty foods.

Western food

Sweetness: When dining, you can also choose desserts according to your personal taste. Generally speaking, sweets will make liqueur less flavorful. If you choose a California Chardonny with a small slice of grilled swordfish, the wine will appear very sweet. However, if you put a salad on top of the fish, the fruitiness of the wine will be reduced a lot. Therefore, when eating desserts, desserts with too much sugar will cover the flavor of the wine and lose its original flavor, so you should choose a slightly sweeter alcohol. In this way, the wine retains its original taste.

Bitterness: The "personal preference" principle is still used. Bitters are reduced when consumed with bitter foods. Therefore, if you want to lighten or remove the bitter taste, you can eat bitter wine with bitter food.

Salty: There is generally no salted liquor, but there are many alcoholic beverages that can reduce the saltiness of salty foods. In many countries and regions around the world, seafood such as fish is eaten with lemon juice or wine, mainly because acid can reduce the saltiness of fish, making it more delicious and delicious when eaten.

Use of knives and forks

The eating habits of British Americans are different. When eating meat dishes, the British take a fork in their left hand, the tip of the fork is facing down, tie up the meat, and send it to the mouth, if it is a burnt vegetable, they will use a knife to transfer the dish to the dinner fork, and send it to the mouth, the Americans use the same method to cut the meat, and then put down the dinner knife in their right hand, and change to a fork, the fork, the tip of the fork is facing up, inserted under the meat, and instead of a knife, the meat is shoveled up, sent to the mouth, and the same is how to shovel and eat burnt vegetables.

When eating, it is not against the etiquette of the table to use the back of the fork to scoop it up, but it does not seem to be very elegant. When eating rice and other dishes, it is natural to turn the fork to the front and scoop it up, because the concave part of the fork is designed for this use.

In this case, you can also use a knife to assist in the eating action. When scooping up the food on the plate, use a knife to prevent the food from falling out of the plate, so that the food on the plate can be scooped up neatly. If you have a dish topped with sauce, you can also use a knife to scrape the sauce and put it in your mouth with a spoon or sauce. If you use a fork and then pour a spoon over the sauce before eating, it is a mistake because the sauce will be ticking all over the place when the food is brought to your mouth, making a mess. When scooping up the food with a fork, hold the fork in your left hand and place the food on the belly of the fork on the front of the fork and put it into your mouth. For casual occasions with friends, if you don't need a knife, you can use a fork in your right hand to eat. Rice should be scooped up with the front side of the fork rather than the back of the fork, which is easier to eat and more elegant and natural. When the finely chopped food on the plate gathers, use a knife to block it and scoop it up with a fork. It is also possible to use a spoon instead of a knife. Use a fork to gather the food onto a spoon and use the spoon to bring the food into your mouth. Saucespoons are used in the same way as regular spoons. It should be eaten with a fork and onto a sauce spoon, rather than a fork and then a saucespoon over the sauce, as the latter is against etiquette.

Types of knives and forks

Knives, forks, and other silverware are called cut-lery. Knives and forks are divided into meat, fish, appetizers, and desserts, while spoons are used for appetizers, soups, coffee, and tea, as well as spoons for seasonings. A seasoning spoon is a spoon used to add seasonings, and is often used in desserts and fish dishes. The tableware used today is constantly changing depending on the cuisine. In a full-fledged Western-style course, knives and forks of different shapes are often used in combination with the characteristics of each dish, and not all of them are laid out at the beginning. When it comes to a full set, it's easy to think of a table full of silverware, but nowadays it's mostly a two-to-three-course meal. Therefore, formal dining decorations with silverware on the table may only be seen at wedding banquets. Recently, there has been a decrease in the use of a set of knives and forks, and more and more people eat only 2-3 appetizers, and the knives and forks do not change accordingly, and most of them are eaten with a set of knives and forks and then served with the appetizers. And the kind of knives and forks (or spoons) placed on the right side of the plate?? It is generally the same for each restaurant, but the knives used in fish dishes often vary from restaurant to restaurant. In particular, there has been a gradual increase in the number of fish knives with the same width as meat knives, and it is common to see fish knives with wider widths than that, as well as fish knives with wider widths and luxurious edge decorations. In addition, there are restaurants that use seasoning spoons instead of fish knives. Knives and forks are like Chinese chopstick rests. Sometimes knives and forks (or spoons) are placed on the knife and fork holder in groups, sometimes knives, forks and spoons are placed in groups on the knife and fork holders, and sometimes knives and forks (or spoons) are placed on top of them in groups so that the blade of the knife and the front of the fork do not touch the tablecloth.

How to position knives and forks

If you take a break in the middle of the meal, you can divide the knife and fork into the disc, and the knife head and fork tip are opposite to each other in a "one" or "eight" shape, and the knife and fork are facing you, indicating that you still continue to eat. If it is a conversation, you can hold the knife and fork without putting it down, but if you need to make a gesture, you should put down the knife and fork, and do not wave the knife and fork in the air. It should be noted that at no time should one end of the knife and fork be placed on the plate and the other end on the table.

Knives and forks serve another very important function in addition to cutting food and putting it in the mouth. The knives and forks are arranged in such a way that they convey the message of "during the meal" or "the end of the meal".

The waiter uses this method to judge the dining situation of the guests, and whether to put away the tableware and prepare the next service, etc., so I hope that Jiyu can remember the correct way of placing the tableware. In particular, the blade side must be facing you.

There are two ways to place the end of the meal: after the meal, the bottom of the fork can be turned upwards, and the blade of the knife can be placed inward and the fork side together, and placed parallel to the plate. The next arrangement is divided into English and French, either way, but the most common is French.

Try to put the handle inside the tray to avoid falling off by touching it, and it is easier for the waiter to clean up. When attending a wedding dinner, no matter how the tableware is placed in the "middle of the meal", all the dishes should be put away as soon as the main guests have finished eating. Therefore, when banqueting, it is important to focus on the main guests.

At a banquet, a pair of knives and forks are used for each dish, and the knives and forks placed in front of you are taken from the outside to the inside, because the order in which the knives and forks are placed is the same order in which each dish is served. The knives and forks ran out, and the serving was over.

When you need to talk or take a break in the middle of the process, you should put the knife and fork flat on both sides of the plate in a figure-eight shape. Conversely, if the handle of the knife and fork is placed side by side on the plate, it means that the dish is ready and the waiter will remove the plate. For appetizers and desserts, if you can eat them directly with a fork, you don't have to use a knife on purpose. At a family dinner or a casual meal with friends, softer dishes such as salads or omelet rice can also be eaten with a fork.

However, the use of knives and forks in formal banquets can give people a more elegant and neat feeling. In addition, in Europe and other places, it is common to see people eating with a fork in their right hand and bread in their left hand. No matter how neat and elegant the food is, this kind of dining can only be done in a family or a popular restaurant, and it will never work in a high-end restaurant.

If you don't use a knife, just put it on the table, and the waiter will automatically take it away. Although placing a knife and fork next to each other on a plate is a sign that the meal is over, there is no need to put a clean knife in a soiled plate. Unused cutlery can be left in its original state, and it seems strange to insist on the rules of form.

It's the right thing to do with things according to the situation at the time. Even if you drop it, it's not ugly, but it's a shame to bend down and pick it up yourself. So it's best to ask a waiter to pick it up for you when something drops. The waiter is always on the lookout for the customer, so he will quickly bring new cutlery, and in case the waiter doesn't notice, you can raise your hand slightly to the waiter and try not to attract other people's attention. The job of the waiter is to make the meal more enjoyable for the guests, so make any requests to them.

The use of various knife techniques in Western cuisine

The basic knife technique that is common in Western food

Cutting is a very widely used processing method. The essentials of this knife technique are: the knife and the raw material are in a vertical state, the right hand shakes, the left hand is pressed to stabilize the raw material, and the first bone joint of the index finger, middle finger and ring little finger is pressed against the left side of the knife, and the back movement of the knife is evenly controlled, and the operation is operated from top to bottom. This method is mainly used to process boneless raw materials. Cutting can be divided into straight cutting, pushing cutting, pushing and pulling cutting, sawing, rolling cutting, rotary cutting, dialing cutting and other methods.

1. Straight cutting: The essentials of operation are to build straight down with a knife, cut off with a knife, neither push forward nor pull back when cutting, and focus on the middle of the knife. This knife method is mainly suitable for cutting a crisp and hard raw material, such as various vegetables.

2. Push and cut: The essentials of operation are to press down from top to bottom with a knife at the same time, and there is an action of pushing forward. The knife is cut from the middle and front of the knife, and the final focus is on the middle and back of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting thick, crisp and hard raw materials, such as potatoes and radishes. It is also suitable for cutting slightly tougher ingredients, such as more tender meats.

3. Pulling: The essentials of operation are to use the knife to press down from top to bottom, and at the same time, there is a backward pulling action. The knife is entered from the middle of the knife, and the final focus is on the front of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting small or crunchy ingredients, such as cucumbers, shallots, celery, tomatoes, etc.

4. Push-pull cutting: The essentials of operation are to press down from top to bottom with a knife, first push forward, and then pull backward. Push forward is convenient to enter the knife, cut off when pulling backward, so that a push and pull, no longer repeat, from the middle of the knife into the knife, the final focus on the front of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting tough raw materials, such as various raw meats.

5. Sawing: The essentials of operation are to press down with a knife from top to bottom, first push forward, and then pull backward, so that it is repeated several times, and finally cut off. Enter the knife from the middle of the knife, and the final point of focus is still in the middle of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting thick raw materials with a certain toughness, such as various cooked meats, intestines, etc.

6. Rolling cutting: The essentials of operation are to use a knife to press straight down from bottom to top, cut a knife to roll the raw materials once, and focus on the middle and front of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting round or oblong raw materials with a crisp and hard texture, such as radishes, potatoes, etc., and is mainly used to process hob blocks.

7. Switching: The essentials of operation are to use the straight knife method to move the knife, cut a knife to rotate the raw material once, and focus on the middle and front of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting round and crisp raw materials, such as potatoes, carrots, shallots, etc., with a No. 3 knife, and is mainly used to process watermelon pieces.

8. Dial cutting: The essentials of operation are to use the straight knife method to move the knife, cut a knife to the side once, and focus on the middle and front of the knife. This knife method is suitable for cutting raw materials that are soft and easy to stick to the knife, such as dough balls, mashed potatoes, etc. Slice is also one of the most widely used knife techniques.

The essentials of operation are: press the raw material with the left hand, the fingers are slightly stilted, and the knife is parallel to the raw material or at an acute and obtuse angle. This method is suitable for processing boneless raw materials or large bone-in clinker. Due to the different properties of raw materials, they can be divided into flat blades, reverse blades, and oblique blades.

1. Flat blade: The sheet method in which the knife and the raw material are in a parallel state is called a flat blade. Due to the different properties of raw materials, there are straight blades, broach blades, and push-pull blades in operation.

1) Straight blade: The operation essentials are that the knife is parallel to the raw material, enter the knife from the right end, and advance it in parallel, with a blade to the end, and the focus point is in the middle of the knife. This knife method is suitable for raw materials with smaller slices and more tender textures, such as meat jelly, butter, etc.

2) Broach blade: The operation essentials are to enter the knife from the right front of the raw material, and pull a knife from front to back after entering the knife to put the raw material down. This knife method is suitable for raw materials with smaller slices and more tender textures, such as chicken slices, fish slices, shrimp slices, etc.

3) Push and pull blade: The operation essentials are to enter the knife from the middle of the raw material, push forward first, and then pull back after entering the knife, which can be repeated 1~2 times, and finally the raw material is broken. This method generally produces a film from the bottom of the raw material. This knife method is suitable for processing tough raw materials, mainly various meats.

2. Reverse blade: the knife edge is about 135~1800 angles to the cutting board outward. Use the method of straight sheet or push-pull sheet from the top of the raw material to the bottom sheet. This method is suitable for processing large, bone-in and toughness clinkers, such as roast lamb shank, roast veal shank, etc.

3. Oblique blade (also known as spatula blade): the knife edge is inward, about 0~450 angle with the cutting board, and the method of pulling the blade is used to slice from the top of the raw material. This method is suitable for processing raw materials with smaller shapes and more tender textures, such as tenderloin, fish, shrimp, etc. Pai Pai is a traditional processing method of Western food. Because this processing method has a certain destructive effect on the organizational structure of raw materials, it is no longer advocated in the West. But it is still used when making some traditional dishes. In China, due to the limitations of raw materials and the constraints of traditional operating habits, this processing method is still commonly used in Western food in China. The patting method is mainly used to process meat raw materials.