To taste western culture, the tradition is to feast your eyes first (restaurant layout), then your ears (soft music) and finally your mouth (delicious French food). After long-term discussion and induction, scholars believe that the most important thing to eat western food is to pay attention to the six "M's".
The first one is "menu"
When you enter a western restaurant, the waiter will take you to your seat first. When you sit still, the menu comes first. The menu is considered as the facade of the restaurant. Looking at the menu and ordering food has become an essential procedure for eating western food and a way of life.
There is a trick to how to order a good dish. The way is to open the menu and see which dish is named after the hotel. You must get to the point, because no chef will joke about his name.
The second is "music"
Luxury and advanced western restaurants should have bands and play some soft music, and ordinary small western restaurants should also play some wonderful music. However, the key point is the degree to which music can be heard and not heard, that is, you can't hear it when you concentrate on chatting with your friends, but you can hear it when you want to rest and relax.
The third is "mood" (atmosphere)
Western food pays attention to elegant environment and harmonious atmosphere. There must be music, white tablecloths and flowers, and all tableware must be clean. At dinner, the lights should be dim and there should be red candles on the table to create a romantic, charming and elegant atmosphere.
The fourth is "meeting"
You must choose who to eat western food with. It must be friends, relatives and like-minded people.
The fifth is "demeanor" (customs)
Follow western customs, use knives and forks correctly, generally arrange men and women to sit next to each other, pay attention to the principle of "ladies first", and show hospitality to ladies.
The sixth is "rice" (food)
Western food is centered on nutrition.
Second, how to order western food?
Ordering western food is still a stranger to many people. The following is the order of serving western food for western learners' reference:
1. Roof
Also known as appetizers, there are usually cold dishes and hot appetizers. Common varieties are caviar, foie gras, smoked salmon and cocktail glasses. Cream chicken crisp box, Tujia snail, etc.
2. soup
It can be roughly divided into clear soup, cream soup, vegetable soup and cold soup. There are oxtail clear soup, various cream soups, seafood soups, American clam soups, Italian vegetable soups, and Russian Luo Songtang. French onion soup.
3. Additional dishes outside the main dish
Aquatic vegetables and eggs, bread and crispy box vegetables are usually called side dishes. Western food pays attention to the use of special sauces when eating fish dishes, including tartar sauce, Dutch sauce, hotel sauce, white cream sauce, archbishop sauce, American sauce, sailor fish sauce and so on.
Step 4: Main course
Meat and poultry dishes are the main courses. Among them, beef or steak is the most representative, and the seasonings used in meat dishes mainly include Spanish juice, concentrated sauce, mushroom juice, shredded white juice and so on. The raw materials of poultry dishes are taken from chickens. Duck and goose; The most common poultry dish is chicken, which can be cooked, fried, roasted and simmered. The main sauces are curry juice and cream juice.
5. Vegetable dishes
Can be arranged after the meat dishes, but also can be eaten at the same time with the meat dishes. Vegetables are called salads in western food. The salad served with the main course is called raw vegetable salad, which is usually made of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and asparagus. There is also a kind of fish, meat and eggs, which are generally not flavored.
6. dessert
The dessert of western food is eaten after the main course and can be counted as the sixth course. It really includes all the food after the main course, such as pudding, ice cream, cheese, fruit and so on.
7.coffee
Coffee usually contains sugar and whipped cream.
Third, you should be polite when eating western food.
There are many tableware on the western food table. You should use certain tableware to eat anything. When enjoying the elegant dining atmosphere of western food, you should behave well and have a "ceremony" when eating.
1, when sitting, keep your body straight, don't put your elbows on the table, and keep the distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Don't fiddle with the tableware on the dining table. Fold the napkin in half and gently put it on your knee.
Napkin cloth: Western-style napkins are generally made of cloth, and the napkin cloth is square and flat with elegant colors. Always put it on your legs, on your chest when you are polite, or on the table when you are relaxed. The corner of the napkin is facing your chest, pressing the plate.
Napkin cloth can be used to wipe your mouth or hands. It should be folded diagonally into a triangle or parallel into a rectangle. All stains should be wiped inside, and the appearance should always be neat. When you leave your seat, even if you leave temporarily, you should take off the napkin cloth, fold it into a square or triangle at will, and put it on the table edge or corner, preferably on your own seat.
2. Use of knives, forks and spoons
Knife: It is used to cut food. Don't stir the food with a knife, send it to your mouth. Remember: knife in your right hand. If there are three kinds of knives with different specifications at the same time when eating, the correct usage is: the one with small serrations is used to cut meat for food; Medium size is used to cut large vegetables into small pieces; There is also a kind of knife with a round tip and some upturned knives at the top, which are used to cut buns, and then use it to pick some jam and cream to spread on them.
Fork: Hold the fork in your left hand, and fork the food to your mouth lightly. Pick up the right amount of food and put it in your mouth at one time. When you pick up food with your mouth, your teeth only touch the food. Don't bite the fork, and don't let the knife and fork make a sound on your teeth or plate.
Spoons: on formal occasions, there are many kinds of spoons, the small ones are used to hold coffee and desserts; Buttered and cake-sharing apartments; Larger, used for drinking soup or holding small food; The biggest one is used to divide soup, which is very common in buffets.
Tableware is placed from outside to inside in the order of serving. Some dishes will remove some knives and forks after use.
Pay attention to the direction and position of the knife and fork. The knife and fork are placed on the saucer in a figure of eight, with the blade inward and the fork tip downward, indicating that you will continue to eat; Put the knife and fork on the saucer in parallel, with the knife edge facing outwards and the fork tip facing upwards, indicating that you don't eat. The spoon is placed horizontally in the soup plate with the center of the spoon facing upwards, which also means that the soup tableware can be taken away. Remember, never put one end of the knife and fork on the plate and the other end on the table.
Fourth, elegant dining:
Don't eat too much food in your mouth every time. Don't talk while chewing, and don't take the initiative to talk to people.
Drink thick soup: take the spoon horizontally and gently scoop it from outside to inside. Don't dig the spoon hard to the bottom, the outside of the spoon will touch the soup. Touch the spoon with your lips when drinking, and don't pick up the soup basin to drink. When the soup is almost finished, put your left hand on your chest and gently lift the inside of the soup basin, concentrate the soup on one side of the bottom of the basin and scoop it out with your right hand.
Cake: Cut a piece on the plate with a knife just big enough for one bite and stick it in your mouth with a fork.
Bread: In table manners, there is a so-called "left bread, right water glass". When eating bread, hold the bread in one hand, tear off a small piece in the other hand and put it in your mouth. Don't bite the whole bread. When spreading butter and jam, break the bread into small pieces before spreading it.
Eat chicken: Chicken breast is more expensive. When eating chicken legs, you should first remove the bones by force, not by hand.
Eat fish: Don't turn the fish upside down. After eating the upper layer, remove the fishbone with a knife and fork, and then eat the meat of the lower layer. When eating meat, cut a piece and eat a piece. Don't cut the pieces too big, or cut all the meat into pieces at once.
Eat meat: cut from the left, fork the meat from the left, and then cut the meat along the right side of the fork with a knife. If the cut meat can't be eaten in one bite, you can directly cut it into smaller pieces with a knife, cut the meat into just one bite, and then send it directly to the population with a fork. The focus is on the strength of holding down the meat with a knife. Push hard when you put the knife out, not when you pull it back. Don't cut all the meat into pieces at the beginning, or the delicious gravy will flow out. All decorated vegetables should also be eaten. Vegetables are added not only for decoration, but also for balanced nutrition. When ordering steak, the waiter will ask the degree of barbecue first, and then serve it according to your favorite cooking method. A cup of sauce will be included when ordering. On formal occasions, the sauce should be served by yourself, not by the waiter. The best amount of sauce is about two tablespoons. After taking the sauce, put the spoon on the edge of the sauce bowl and pass it on to the next person.
Drinking: When drinking and toasting, even if you don't drink, you should touch the mouth of the cup on your lips to show your respect. When someone pours you wine, if you don't want it, simply say "no, thanks!" " "Or gently cover the cup with your hand to show your refusal.
Smoking: don't smoke before the meal is over until the coffee is served to indicate the end of the meal. If there are female guests around, you should politely ask "Do you mind?"
Drinking coffee: If you want to add milk or sugar, stir it evenly with a small spoon and put the spoon on the saucer of coffee. When drinking, hold the cup handle in your right hand, put the saucer in your left hand, and drink directly with your mouth, not with a spoon.
Eat fruit: Don't bite the whole fruit, cut it into four petals or main petals with a fruit knife first, and then remove the skin and core with a knife and fork before eating.
Conversation: You should talk with the guests around you while eating, but you should avoid talking and laughing loudly. Don't just talk to a few acquaintances. If you don't know them, you can introduce yourself. Don't interrupt when others are talking.
Don't wear makeup when eating. Wipe your nose with a napkin. Burping while eating is the biggest taboo. If this happens, you should apologize to the people around you immediately. Don't stand when eating. Sit and ask others to pass the food you can't get.
Don't spit directly when eating fish, meat and other dishes with thorns or bones. Cover your mouth with a napkin, spit it gently on a fork and put it on a plate. If there is a small amount of food left on the plate, don't scrape the bottom of the plate with a fork, let alone help you eat with your fingers, but help you eat with a small piece of bread or fork. When eating noodles, roll them up with a fork and send them to your mouth.
Don't wolf down your meal. You should also put some food you don't want to eat on the plate to show politeness. Sometimes the host will advise the guests to add some food. If they have an appetite, it is not rude to add meals. On the contrary, the owner may be proud of it.
When eating western food, you should dress neatly, sit upright, keep your back straight and stretch your neck. The most important thing is to keep your hands clean and your nails neatly trimmed.
Five, dining etiquette eight "no"
When eating, we often encounter common embarrassing situations such as food stuffed into our teeth, knife and fork accidentally dropped, and even seeing "foreign objects" in our dishes. If it is not handled properly, it will give people a rude feeling, and worse, it will affect others' appetite. In order to avoid danger and deal with it properly, we should pay attention to the eight "no's" of dining etiquette.
1. It is not advisable to spray too strong perfume to avoid drowning the flavor of dishes.
Ladies should avoid wearing hats and high boots when attending grand dinners.
When knives, forks and napkins fall to the ground, don't just lie under the table and pick them up. Please ask the waiter to supplement them.
When the food residue is stuffed into your teeth, don't take it out at once with a toothpick, but drink some water to see if the situation can be improved. If not, you should go to the bathroom to deal with it.
When there are foreign objects in the dish, don't tell your neighbors pale, so as not to affect others' appetite. Stay calm, pick it out with a napkin and throw it away.
6. Don't wave your knife and fork unconsciously when you say one-liners.
7. You shouldn't throw up while eating. If you encounter food that is too spicy or hot, you can drink ice water as soon as possible to adjust it. If you really can't eat, go to the bathroom for treatment.
8. Ladies should wipe off lipstick before eating, so as not to leave lip prints on cups or tableware, giving people a sense of impurity.
Six, formal western etiquette
1, the trick to making an appointment. The more upscale the hotel, the more you need to make an appointment in advance. When making an appointment, you should indicate not only the number and time, but also whether you want a smoking area or a seat with a good view. If it is a birthday or other special day, you can tell the purpose and budget of the banquet. It is basic courtesy to arrive within the scheduled time.
No matter how expensive casual clothes are, you can't just wear them to the restaurant.
It is common sense for Europeans and Americans to dress appropriately when eating. To go to high-end restaurants, men should wear neat tops and leather shoes; A lady should wear a suit and shoes with heels. If formal clothes are required, men must wear ties.
4. Sit on the left side of the chair. The most suitable sitting position is sitting on the left. When the chair is opened, the body will stand up straight at a distance that almost touches the table. The leader pushes the chair in, and the legs bend and touch the chair behind, so you can sit down.
When eating, the upper arm and back should lean on the back of the chair, and the abdomen should keep a distance of about a fist from the table. Sitting with your feet crossed is best avoided.
6. The order of serving a full set of dinner is: ① dish and soup; ② Cod liver oil; 3 fruits; 4 meat; 5 milk and cold cheese; 6 dessert and coffee; 6 fruit; Aperitif and table wine. There's no need to order them all. It's impolite to order too much and not finish it. People who only order appetizers are not welcome in restaurants with a little standard. Appetizers, main courses (fish or meat) and desserts are the most suitable combinations. Ordering is not an appetizer, but a favorite main course, and then a soup suitable for the main course.
7. Don't pretend to be an expert when ordering wine. In high-end restaurants, bartenders who are good at tasting will bring wine lists. For those who don't know much about wine, it's best to tell him the dishes he chooses, the budget and the taste of his favorite wine, and let the bartender help him choose.
8. If the main course is meat, it should be served with red wine and fish with white wine. Before serving, you might as well have a glass of light wine such as champagne, sherry or Jill.
9. Napkins can be opened before meals. After ordering, before the appetizer is served, open the napkin, fold in one third, and let two thirds lie flat on the leg to cover the leg above the knee. It's best not to stuff napkins into the neckline.
10, gently hold the cup foot with three fingers. Wine service is usually the waiter who is responsible for pouring a small amount of wine into the cup, so that guests can tell whether there is a problem with the quality. Think of it as a formality. Just take a sip and sign it back. Then, the waiter will come and pour the wine. Don't start taking the cup at this time, but put it on the table for the waiter to pour. The correct posture of holding a cup is to gently hold the foot of the cup with your fingers. In order to prevent the temperature of the hand from increasing the temperature of the wine, hold the foot of the cup with your thumb, middle finger and forefinger, and put the little finger on the bottom of the cup to fix it.
1 1, the method of drinking. When drinking, never inhale, but tilt the glass, just like putting the wine on your tongue. Shake the glass gently and let the wine come into contact with the air to enhance the mellow taste of the wine, but don't shake the glass violently. In addition, it is impolite to drink it in one breath and look at people through the glass while drinking. Don't wipe the lipstick mark on the rim of the cup with your fingers. You'd better wipe it with a paper towel.
Seven, how to eat salad
How to eat salad: cut a large lettuce leaf into small pieces with a fork. If it is difficult to cut, you can use a knife and fork. Cut one piece at a time. Don't cut the whole salad into small pieces at once.
If the salad is on a big plate, use a salad fork. If you put it with the main course, you should fork it with the main course.
If salad is a separate dish between the main course and dessert, it is usually eaten with cheese and fried cornflakes. First take a slice or two of bread and put it in your salad plate, then take two or three pieces of cornflakes. Cheese and salad should be eaten with a fork, and cornflakes should be eaten with your hands.
If the main salad is accompanied with salad dressing, it is difficult to mix the whole bowl of salad with salad dressing. Pour the salad dressing on a part of the salad first, and then add the sauce after eating this part. It is much easier to pour the juice until it is added to the lettuce leaves at the bottom of the bowl.
Eight, western food tasting trilogy
Wine tasting should use eyes, nose and mouth to distinguish the color, aroma and taste of wine. Simply put, wine tasting can be divided into the following three main steps:
Observe the color of wine with your eyes first.
After the wine is selected, the waiter will serve the wine first, check the label on the bottle for you, and then pour some wine into the glass for you to try. If you are satisfied with the taste of the wine, the waiter will continue to add more wine.
Before tasting wine, you should gently raise your glass and shake it a few times. First of all, we should appreciate the "hanging cup" of wine, then observe its color under the lamp and pay attention to whether the wine is clear and free of impurities.
After reading it with your eyes, you should be able to feel the smell of wine with your nose.
First, hold the cup foot tightly, gently circle the cup, let the red wine shake in the cup, contact with a lot of air, release the aroma, then put the glass close to the nose and enjoy the aroma slowly. As long as you try a few more times, you can slowly distinguish the fruity, woody, floral, earthy and oak flavors in the wine, and you can also distinguish the grade of the wine through the taste.
Take a sip of wine and let the aroma slowly release in your mouth.
In order to avoid gulping it down, you should take a sip first, let the taste buds feel the taste of the wine, and then swallow it slowly.