Chinese food etiquette China is a country that pays attention to food. Chinese food is also one of the four great delicacies in the world, and it is very popular with foreign friends. In foreign-related communication, it is common to invite foreign guests to eat Chinese food. However, this seemingly ordinary Chinese restaurant has some exquisite manners.

(1) Arrangement of Seats and Seats for Chinese Banquets

1. Generally, tables used in Chinese banquets are mainly round tables, while seats are arranged in different ways, such as double tables, three tables, four tables and five tables, but the basic principles of arrangement remain unchanged. Mainly to face the middle of the main entrance as the chief, and then to respect the right, according to the principle of right to left to arrange, as shown in figure 6-1. When arranging seats, except the main table can be slightly larger, the size and shape of other dining tables should be roughly similar, and the difference should not be too large.

2. Arrangement of seats for Chinese banquet. The host of the banquet should sit at the main table and face the main entrance. If there are sub-hosts, guests and sub-guests, the sub-host sits directly opposite the host, the guest sits on the right side of the host, and the sub-host sits on the right side of the sub-host, as shown in Figure 6-2. Other guests have no strict rules. At each dining table, the number of people who arrange meals should be limited to 11, and even numbers. If there are too many people, they will not be able to take care of them. Because the seating arrangement is usually based on the status of the guests, if it is a large banquet and there are a large number of VIPs, the seating arrangement should be drawn in advance and posted at the entrance of the banquet, and special personnel should be arranged to serve the guests.

(2) The order of serving Chinese food

No matter what the flavor, the order of serving Chinese food is roughly the same. The order of serving is generally: cold dishes first, then hot fried, then main course, then dim sum soup, and finally fruit platter.

when serving food, if the waiter serves food for everyone, it should be done in the order of guest first, host first, lady first, man first or clockwise. If the individual takes the food, each hot dish should be placed in front of the guest of honor, who will take the food in turn clockwise. Can't wait to get the food offside.

(3) Use of Tableware

1. Tableware for Chinese food mainly includes cups, plates, bowls, plates, chopsticks and spoons. At a formal banquet, the water glass is placed above the dish and the wine glass is placed on the upper right. Chopsticks and spoons can be placed on special seats or in paper sleeves. Public chopsticks and spoons are best placed on special seats.

2. How to use tableware

(1) Chopsticks. Although chopsticks are simple and convenient to use, they also have many rules. For example, you can't talk to others with chopsticks up. When you talk, you should put chopsticks on the chopsticks rack, or put them side by side next to the rice bowl. Don't use chopsticks to push rice bowls and dishes, and don't use chopsticks to fork steamed bread or other food. Other taboos for using chopsticks are: avoid licking chopsticks-don't lick the attachments on chopsticks with your tongue; Don't be obsessed with chopsticks-you don't know what to hold, you can't move back and forth between dishes, and you can't use chopsticks to dial the dishes on the plate. Avoid tears chopsticks-avoid dripping vegetable juice when picking up vegetables. You should take a small dish and put it in the small dish before serving it. Don't move chopsticks-just put the dishes in this plate and then put the dishes in that plate. You should put another plate after eating. Don't knock chopsticks-knocking chopsticks is disrespectful to the host.

In addition, chopsticks should usually be placed next to the bowl, not on the bowl. If you need to leave temporarily during the meal, you should put chopsticks gently next to the bowl on the table and never insert them in the rice bowl. For example, in Korean banquets, each person is equipped with a male chopstick and a female spoon (the male chopsticks are used to pick up vegetables and the female spoon is used to scoop soup, which can only be used by himself, but not by everyone), so it is necessary to remember that chopsticks and spoons cannot be used to pick up vegetables and scoop soup for others.

(2) tablespoons. Spoons are mainly used for drinking soup. Try not to use them to scoop vegetables. Attention should be paid to using a spoon: ① When drinking soup with it, don't put it all in your mouth; ② After taking food with a spoon, you should eat it immediately, and don't put it back again; Pet-name ruby when not in use, you should put the spoon in your plate, not on the table or soup bowl.

(3) bowls. Bowls are mainly used to hold staple food, soup and soup. At a formal banquet, you should pay attention to the use of bowls: ① Don't pick up the bowl to eat, especially don't pick up the bowl with both hands; 2 The leftover food in the bowl should not be poured into your mouth or licked with your tongue; 3 The food in the bowl should be taken with tableware, not sucked with the mouth; (4) temporarily unused bowl can't put sundry.

(4) disk. The plate in front of everyone is used to put dishes taken from the public plate. Attention should be paid to the use of food plates: ① Don't take too much food; ② Don't spit residues, bones and fishbones that are not suitable for ISl on the floor or on the table. Put them on the front end of the food plate lightly and replace them by service personnel.

(5) water cup. Chinese food cups are mainly used to hold boiled water, drinks and fruit juice. Be careful not to use it to hold wine, and don't pour the cup upside down. What you drink in [21] can't be spit back.

(6) napkins. Nowadays, many restaurants have prepared napkins for customers. Usually, after the honored person sitting at the top of the table picks up the napkins, other people can take them out and spread them on their legs. The movements should be small and don't shake them out in the air like a bullfight. When the napkin is very large, it can be folded and used. Don't pin the napkin on the collar or around the neck. The main function of napkin is to prevent food from falling on clothes, so you can only use a corner of napkin to print your lips. You can't wipe your face and blow your nose with the whole napkin, and don't use napkin to clean the tableware. If you are leaving your seat temporarily, please fold your napkin on the back of the chair or the armrest of the chair.

7) water bowl. Sometimes it is necessary to taste some foods directly, and a water bowl is often placed on the dining table. The water in it is not drinkable and can only be used for washing hands. When washing your hands, you should not do too much, and don't shake it around. Wet your fingers with both hands in turn, rinse them gently, and then dry them with napkins.

(8) toothpicks. Toothpicks are mainly used to pick your teeth. When eating, try not to pick your teeth in public. If you want to pick it, you should cover your mouth gently with your hand or napkin. Don't watch or re-enter the food in public, and don't play casually or spit casually. Don't hold a toothpick in your mouth for a long time after picking your teeth.

(9) wet towel. The first wet towel brought by the waiter for everyone is for wiping hands, so it's better not to use it to wipe your face. At the end of the banquet, put on a wet towel, which is used to wipe your mouth, not your face or sweat.

(4) Dining Etiquette

After serving, don't start eating immediately, and guests can't start eating until the host signals them to start. If the amount of alcohol can be tolerated, the first glass of wine to the host should be drunk. Guests at the same table can persuade each other to drink, but they should not force each other to drink in any way, otherwise it is impolite.

If you want to be civilized, you should wait for the dishes to turn to yourself before moving chopsticks, and don't get ahead of your neighbor. It is not advisable to pick too many dishes at a time, and don't pick your favorite dishes. Don't touch your neighbor when picking vegetables, and don't put the dishes on the table. If you accidentally drop the dish you are clamping on the table, don't replay it on the original dish, but put it on the dish containing the residue.

eat gracefully. Don't chat with people while eating. Eat vegetables and drink soup: don't wolf down, don't make unnecessary noises. If the vegetables and soup are too hot, wait until they are cold before eating. Don't blow them with your mouth. Don't spit the bones and fishbones in your mouth on the table. Cover your mouth with a napkin and take them out with chopsticks and put them on a plate. Use toothpicks instead of fingers when picking your teeth, and cover your mouth with your hands or napkins. Don't play with the chopsticks to make the tableware make any noise, especially don't point the chopsticks at others. Ladies should pay attention not to touch lipstick on cups, straws or bowls to avoid indecent. Try not to cough, sneeze, yawn or blow your nose when eating. If you can't restrain yourself, cover your nose and mouth with a handkerchief and napkin, turn around, face sideways, and lower your head as low as possible.

if you accidentally spill the wine on the guest sitting next to you, you should apologize and help dry it. If the other person is of the opposite sex, you should pass the clean napkin and wipe it yourself.

In order to show friendliness and enthusiasm during the meal, you can offer food to each other and persuade each other to taste it, but don't serve food for others. Especially for foreign guests, don't persuade them repeatedly, because there is no habit of persuading them abroad, and they should decide whether to eat or not.

it's best not to leave halfway to the party. As a last resort, you should say sorry to the person at the same table, and at the same time solemnly apologize to the host and explain the reason. If you need to leave for a while, you can put your napkin on the seat. If you put it on the table, you will be considered to leave after dinner. After eating, you should wait for everyone to put down their chopsticks, and the host will signal that you can leave the seat. After eating, don't take away the items on the table casually, and don't take away the rest of the entertainment items (including candy, fruit, cigarettes, etc.) except those specially indicated by the host as souvenirs.

After the banquet, you can walk up to the host, shake hands and say "thank you", and say goodbye to the host, but don't hold the host's hand and keep talking, so as not to hinder the host from seeing other guests off.

second, western food etiquette

to a great extent, eating western food means eating emotional appeal: marble fireplace, glittering crystal lamp, silver candlestick, colorful wine, and people's elegant and charming manners, which in itself is a touching oil painting. In order to be more proficient when you first taste western food, it is worthwhile to spend some effort to familiarize yourself with these dining etiquette.

(1) Seating arrangement of western banquet

1. Rules of seating arrangement

(1) Ladies are preferred. In western food etiquette, the principle of ladies first is often embodied. When arranging dining seats, the general hostess is the first host and takes her place in the main seat. And the male host is the second host, sitting in the position of the second host.

(2) distance positioning. The ranking of seats on the table of western food is determined by their distance from the theme. The position close to the theme is higher than the position far from the theme.

(3) Respect the right. When arranging seats, it is the basic principle to respect the right. As far as a specific position is concerned, according to etiquette norms, its right side is higher than its left side. When ranking western food, the male guest of honor should be on the right side of the hostess, and the female guest of honor should be on the right side of the male host. According to this principle, they should be arranged in turn.

(4) The other side door is up. According to the requirements of etiquette, the seat facing the main entrance of the restaurant is higher than the seat facing the main entrance of the restaurant.

(5) cross arrangement. When arranging seats in western food, pay attention to the principle of cross arrangement, that is, men and women should cross arrangement, and acquaintances and strangers should also cross arrangement. In the eyes of westerners, the purpose of banquet is to expand interpersonal relationships, so that people can chat with the guests around them and achieve social goals.

2. There is a certain difference between the position arrangement of seated western food and Chinese food. Chinese food mostly uses round tables, while western food mainly uses long tables. There are two main ways to arrange the long table:

(1) French seating. The host is located in the middle, and the male and female hosts sit opposite each other. The hostess is the male guest of honor on the right, the male guest of honor on the left, the female guest of honor on the right and the female guest on the left, and the accompanying guests try to sit next to each other. As shown in Figure 6-4.

(2) Anglo-American seating style. There are male and female hosts at both ends of the table. If the couple are invited together, the man will sit on the right hand side of the hostess, and the woman will sit on the right hand side of the hostess. On the left, the second guest will be seated. If the guest is accompanied, please try to sit in the middle. As shown in figure 6-5.

On grand occasions, if the dining table is arranged in a separate room, you should not enter the room with the dining table without permission before the hostess invites you to sit down. If they are all friends, everyone can sit freely: on other occasions, guests should sit according to the hostess's instructions. Guests should obey the host's arrangement. It is polite to sit down after the hostess and other ladies sit down. Generally speaking, a banquet should be presided over by the hostess. If the hostess says, "Have a good appetite", it means you can eat. It is very impolite for the hostess to put the spoon in her mouth before she speaks.

(II) Order of serving Western food

Western food is usually served in the following order:

1. The first course of western food is the first course, also known as appetizer. Generally, it is a platter composed of vegetables, fruits, seafood and meat.

2. soup is very different from Chinese food in that the second course of western food is soup. Western-style soups can be roughly divided into clear soups, cream soups, vegetable soups and cold soups. There are oxtail clear soup, various cream soups, seafood soup, American clam soup, Italian vegetable soup, Russian Luo Songtang soup and French stir-fried onion soup. There are few varieties of cold soup, such as German cold soup and Russian cold soup.

3. Side dish fish dishes are generally regarded as the third course of western food, also known as side dishes. Species include all kinds of freshwater and seawater fish, shellfish and molluscs. 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 and sailor fish sauce.

4. The main course meat and poultry dishes are the fourth course of western food, also known as the main course. The raw materials of meat dishes are from beef, sheep, pigs and other parts, of which beef or steak is the most representative. Steak can be divided into sirloin steak (also called sirloin steak), filet steak, "T" bone steak, thin steak and so on. Its cooking methods are often roasted, fried, grilled and so on. The sauces used in meat dishes mainly include Spanish sauce, concentrated boiled sauce, mushroom sauce and Bainis sauce.

The raw materials of poultry dishes are taken from chickens, ducks and geese, and game such as rabbit meat and venison are usually classified as poultry dishes. The most variety is chicken, including pheasant, turkey and bamboo chicken. The production method can be boiled, fried, roasted and braised. The main sauces are yellow gravy, curry juice and cream juice.

5. Vegetable dishes can be arranged after meat dishes or served at the same time with meat dishes, so they can be regarded as a dish or called a side dish. Vegetable dishes are called salads in western food. Salad served with the main course is called raw vegetable salad, which is usually made of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and asparagus.

Some vegetables are cooked, such as cauliflower, boiled spinach and potato chips. Cooked vegetables are usually served on the plate together with the meat dishes of the main course, which is called side dishes.

6. Snacks After the main course, we usually serve some western snacks such as cakes, biscuits, toast and sandwiches.

7. After dessert, dessert is served, the most common ones are pudding and ice cream.

8. After dessert, thousands of fresh fruits are usually placed.

9. Hot drinks Before the end of the banquet, hot drinks, usually black tea or coffee, should be provided for diners to help digestion.

From the actual situation, western food is also being simplified. The simpler western food menu can be appetizer, soup, main course, dessert and coffee.

(3) Use of western tableware

1. Tableware arrangement There are knives, forks, spoons, plates, saucers, cups, etc. Generally, it is important to use different knives and forks for eating different dishes and different glasses for drinking different wines. The arrangement is as follows: the main dish is placed on the front, the fork is placed in the left hand, the knife is placed in the right hand, the spoon is placed above the main dish, and the wine glass is placed on the upper right. Napkins are placed on the main dish or inserted into the water cup, and some are placed on the left side of the plate. The bread and cream tray is on the upper left.

2. How to use tableware

(1) Knife. The most correct posture of holding a knife at a banquet is: holding the knife in your right hand, holding the handle with your thumb on the side of the handle and your forefinger on the back of the handle. Don't put your index finger on the back of the knife, except for dishes that can be cut with strong force or the knife is too blunt. In addition, don't hold the knife with your little finger straight. Some women think this posture is elegant, but it is wrong. Knives are used to cut food. Don't use knives to stir up food and send it to your mouth.