Western food etiquette

Western food etiquette

Western food etiquette, there are many dining etiquette in Western food, so for friends who are not familiar with Western food etiquette, it is still worth the effort to learn it, as follows I will take you to understand Western food etiquette, let’s learn it together. Western Eating Etiquette 1

When seated, your body should be upright, your elbows should not be placed on the table, and your feet should not be crossed. It is better to keep the distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Do not mess around with the tableware that has been placed on the dining table. Fold the napkin in half and place it gently in your lap.

When using a knife and fork to eat, take the knife and fork from the outside to the inside. Hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right hand; when cutting things, hold the fork in your left hand and hold the food in your right hand. The knife saws it into small pieces and then goes into the mouth with a fork. When using a knife, the blade must not point outward. When you put down your knives and forks during a meal, they should be placed in an "eight" shape and placed on the edge of the dinner plate. The blade of the knife is facing towards you, indicating that you will continue to eat. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate. If you are talking, you can hold the knife and fork without putting it down. When you are not using a knife, you can also hold a fork with your right hand. However, if you need to make a gesture, you should put down the knife and fork. Never wave the knife or fork in the air, nor hold a knife or fork in one hand and hold it in the other hand. Wipe your mouth with a napkin, and do not hold a wine glass in one hand and a fork in the other hand to pick up food. Remember, never put one end of a knife and fork on the plate and the other end on the table. Do not put too much food into your mouth at a time, do not talk while chewing, and do not take the initiative to talk to others.

Dining

After taking a seat, the host greets you and starts eating.

When taking out dishes, don’t overfill them. After the food on the plate is finished, if it is not enough, you can take more. If the waiter distributes the dishes, if you need to add more, wait until the waiter brings it to you. If you can't eat or don't like the food, when the waiter serves it or the host takes it, don't refuse it. You can put a small amount on the plate and say "Thank you, that's enough." Don't show your face to the dish that doesn't suit your taste. Embarrassed expression.

Be polite when eating. Close your mouth and chew, don't sip the soup, and don't make any noise when eating. If the soup or vegetables are too hot, wait for them to cool down before eating. Do not blow them with your mouth. Do not spit out the fishbones and bones in your mouth directly. Cover your mouth with a napkin and take them out with your hands (chopsticks can be used when eating Chinese food), or spit them gently on a fork and put them on a dish.

Leftovers, used tableware and toothpicks should be placed on the plate, not on the table.

Do not speak when there is food in your mouth.

When flossing your teeth, cover your mouth with your hands or a napkin

Conversation

Whether you are the host, companion or guest, you should talk to the people at the same table. Especially those seated next to you. Don't talk to just a few acquaintances or just the same two people. If you don't know your neighbor, you can introduce yourself first.

Toasts

When participating in a banquet held in a foreign country as the guest of honor, you should understand the other party’s toasting habits, that is, who is toasting, when to toast, etc., in order to make necessary preparations. When clinking glasses, the host and the guest of honor clink first. If there are many people, they can raise their glasses at the same time, but not necessarily clink glasses. Be careful not to cross and clink glasses when toasting. When the host and guest of honor are delivering speeches or toasting, they should pause their meals, stop talking, and listen carefully, and do not take this opportunity to smoke. Stand while the national anthem is played. After the host and guest of honor have finished speaking and clinking glasses with the VIP guests, they often go to other tables to toast. In this case, you should stand up and raise your glasses. When clinking glasses, greet each other visually.

Toast each other at a banquet to express friendship and liven up the atmosphere, but be sure to drink too much. Drinking too much can easily lead to blunders or even loss of posture, so it must be controlled within one-third of the amount of alcohol consumed.

Undressing

In social situations, no matter how hot the weather is, you cannot unbutton and take off your clothes in public. At a small banquet, if the host asks the guests to undress, the male guests can take off their coats and put them on the back of the chair.

Drink tea

(or coffee) Drink tea or coffee. If you wish, add milk and sugar. You can add them to the cup. After stirring with a small teaspoon, put the teaspoon back into the cup. In the dish, milk and sugar are usually placed in separate containers. When drinking, hold the cup handle with your right hand and the small saucer with your left hand.

Fruits

When eating pears and apples, do not hold them whole and bite them. You should first cut them into four or six pieces with a fruit knife, then peel and core them with a knife, and then hold them with your hands. Eat it while peeling, with the knife edge facing inward and peeling from the outside inward.

Peel the banana first and cut it into small pieces with a knife. Oranges can be cut into pieces with a knife and eaten, while oranges, lychees, longans, etc. can be peeled and eaten. Others, such as watermelon and pineapple, are usually peeled and cut into pieces. When eating, you can cut them into small pieces with a fruit knife and eat them with a fork.

Water Bowl

At banquets, when chickens, lobsters, and fruits are served, a small water bowl (copper basin, porcelain bowl, or crystal glass jar) is sometimes presented, with a few drops floating on the water. Rose petals or lemon slices for hand washing (someone once mistakenly thought it was a drink and it became a joke). When washing, take turns to wet your fingers with both hands, rinse gently, and then dry them with a napkin or small towel.

Commemorative items

Some hosts provide a small souvenir or a flower for each attendee. At the end of the banquet, the host asked the guests to bring them. In this case, you can say one or two words of praise for the small gift, but there is no need to express your gratitude solemnly. Sometimes, foreign visitors often take the banquet menu as a souvenir, and sometimes ask the guests to sign the menu as a souvenir. Do not take away all kinds of entertainment items, including candies, fruits, cigarettes, etc., except those specially indicated by the host as souvenirs.

Acknowledgments

Sometimes after attending a private banquet, a letter or business card is often given to express gratitude.

When picking up dishes at buffets and cocktail parties, when the receptionist is serving the food, do not rush to pick it up until it is brought to you. Don’t rush to get the second portion when others around you haven’t gotten the first. Don't crowd around the food table. Step away immediately after taking the food so that others can take it.

The use of tableware

The tableware for Chinese food is mainly bowls and chopsticks, while for Western food, it is knives, forks and plates. Foreigners are usually entertained to eat Chinese food, usually Chinese or Western food, with bowls, chopsticks, and knives and forks set out. The use of a knife and fork is to hold the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand, cut the food into small pieces, and then use the fork to put it into the mouth. Europeans do not change hands when using it, that is, they hold the fork with their left hand from cutting to serving food. Americans put the knife down after cutting, and hold the fork in their right hand to bring food into the mouth. When dining, use the knife and fork in the order from outside to inside. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate to show that you are finished. If you have not finished eating, place it in a figure eight or cross position, with the knife edge facing inward. When eating chicken or lobster, you can tear it open with your hands upon the owner's instruction. Otherwise, you can use a knife and fork to cut off the meat and cut it into small pieces. When cutting meat with bones or hard shells, the fork must be firmly inserted into the meat and the knife should be cut close to the edge of the fork to avoid slipping. When chopping vegetables, be careful not to hit the plate too hard and make a sound. For food that is difficult to fork, or food that is difficult to fork, use a knife to gently push it onto the fork. Except for drinking soup, do not eat with a spoon. The soup is served in a deep plate or a small bowl. When drinking, use a spoon to scoop it up from the inside out and put it into your mouth. When you are about to drink it all, you can hold the plate slightly outward. Food with fishy smell, such as fish, shrimp, game, etc., should be served with lemon. You can squeeze the juice with your hands and drip it on the food to remove the fishy smell.

Encountering unexpected situations

During the banquet, due to inadvertence, an abnormal situation occurs, such as using too much force, causing the knife and fork to hit the plate and making a sound, or the tableware falls to the ground. Or spilling drinks, etc., you should be calm and don't be anxious. If the tableware makes a sound, you can gently say "I'm sorry" to your neighbor (or to the host). The receptionist can give you a drop of cutlery if you drop it. If the drink spills on your neighbor, you should apologize and help wipe it up; if the other person is a woman, just hand over a clean napkin or handkerchief and let her dry it herself.

Sharing and *enjoyment

Regardless of whether vegetarians are willing to accept it, according to research, in ancient times, people gathered together to enjoy food because they shared meat together. started. When an individual is eating, if it is just plants - vegetables, fruits, etc., he can enjoy it by himself without worrying about other creatures coming to snatch it, and everyone will not get together because of this. Only meat as the main food can attract many people together. In this regard, there is not much difference between humans and the animal world. And as long as there is meat to eat, people will not give in. Everyone will definitely compete for it, so they move from sharing to enjoying. Of course, this is inseparable from the fact that everyone hunted together at that time and shared the fruits of victory together after returning. Therefore, eating meat is an important event when our human group begins to sit together and share the joy of life.

After humans mastered the use of fire, history turned a new page. Humans and beasts are completely differentiated. Everyone formed a circle face to face and enjoyed the joy of eating and drinking together.

Over the long years, people have gradually mastered some skills, cooking techniques have been continuously improved, the means of enjoying meals have also been increasing, and people have begun to further understand and improve the ways and means of eating. This kind of social interaction due to eating gradually transformed into enjoying delicious food, and became a common form of people's communication and one of the necessary contents of life. People no longer eat just for the sake of eating. Food gatherings have become a common way to communicate, gather together, and express friendship. Western Food Etiquette 2

If you eat multiple main courses, after finishing the first one (usually seafood), the waiter will bring you a glass of sorbet, made with juice or champagne. In addition to refreshing your mouth, In addition, it will also help increase your appetite for the next dish.

No matter how comfortable the stool is, your sitting posture should be upright and not resting on the back of the chair. When eating, the body can be tilted slightly forward, and the arms should be close to the body to avoid hitting the next door.

If you eat multiple main courses, after finishing the first one (usually seafood), the waiter will serve a glass of sorbet, made with juice or champagne. In addition to refreshing your mouth, it also helps increase your appetite for the next dish.

Eating French food is the same as eating Western food. When using a knife, remember to start with the outermost tableware and work from the outside to the inside. Don’t pounce on the delicious food when you see it, which is rude.

After eating each dish, place the knife * around or cross it, which is very ugly. The correct method is to place the knives* side by side on the plate with the teeth facing upward.

Cut the large lettuce leaves into small pieces with a razor. If it is difficult to cut, you can use a knife and * together. Cut one piece at a time, don't chop the whole salad into small pieces at once.

If the main dish salad comes with salad dressing, it is difficult to mix the entire bowl of salad with salad dressing. Pour the salad dressing on part of the salad first, and then add the dressing after eating this part. Add until it reaches the lettuce leaves at the bottom of the bowl, making it easier to pour the juice.

Use salad* if the salad is served in a large plate. If it is served with the main dish, it should be eaten with the main dish*.

If the salad is a separate dish between the main course and dessert, it is usually served with cheese, corn chips, etc. Start by placing a slice or two of bread on your salad plate, followed by a few tortilla chips. Cheese and salad are eaten with tortillas, and tortilla chips are eaten with your hands.

Finally, when wiping your hands and mouth after eating, do not wipe it vigorously with a napkin. Pay attention to your manners. Just use the corner of the napkin to gently wipe away the oil stains on your mouth or fingers.