Hotel reservation

In the west, it is generally necessary to make an appointment in advance to go to a restaurant. There are several points to pay special attention to when making an appointment. First, we should explain the number and time, and then we should explain whether we 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 at the scheduled time. No matter how expensive casual clothes are, you can't wear them casually when eating in a restaurant. It is the common sense of Europeans and Americans. When going to a high-end restaurant, men should dress neatly; A lady should wear a suit and shoes with heels. If formal clothes are required, men must wear ties. When entering the restaurant, the man should open the door first and invite the lady in. We should let the ladies go ahead. When sitting and serving, ladies should give priority. Especially for group activities, don't forget to let the ladies go ahead.

Serving order

The formal order of serving a full set of western food 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's no need to order them all. It's impolite to order too much and not finish it. A slightly standard restaurant welcomes guests who only order appetizers. 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.

Knowledge of ordering wine

In high-end restaurants, bartenders who are good at tasting will bring wine lists. For people who don't know much about wine, it's best to tell them the dishes they choose, the budget and the taste of their favorite wine, and the master bartender will help them choose. 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.

How to use napkins

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.

The collocation of drinks and food

What kind of food should be eaten when drinking has always been a problem that puzzles people. For hundreds of years, choosing the right food when drinking seems to have formed a law. However, with the emergence of new foods and new wines in modern society, these rules are outdated and increasingly unsuitable. If another friend tells you that you must eat fish when drinking liquor, you can say that it is 2 1 century, and those rules of19th century are out of date. How to mix drinking and food must first understand that life is different due to personal preferences, and the combination of drinking and food must undoubtedly be matched with personal tastes at will. You can order wine and vegetables according to your own taste, even if the rules don't allow it, or the friends who eat at the same table are firmly opposed, you don't have to be shy or embarrassed. There are many things in life that seem to be mismatched, but they still seem so harmonious. But what should you do when you still can't decide what wine to use for dinner? Will you turn to these rules? Over the years, I have accumulated some experience that can solve your problem. These so-called "principles" do not tell you what to eat when drinking, but only explain how food and alcohol interact and interact with each other. When drinking, it is important to match food according to taste. Food and alcohol can be divided into four flavors, which define the range of wine and food collocation, namely: sour, sweet, bitter and salty.

Sour taste: You may have heard that wine can't go with salad, because the acid in salad greatly destroys the mellow taste of wine. But if salad and sour wine are used together, the acid contained in wine will be decomposed by lactic acid of salad, which is of course an excellent match. So you can choose acidic wine and acidic food to eat together. Acidic wine with salty food tastes good.

Sweetness: When dining, you can also choose dessert according to your personal taste. Generally speaking, sweets will weaken the taste of sweet wine. If you choose Chattonny in California with a small piece of grilled swordfish, the wine will be very sweet. However, if you put salad on fish, the fruit flavor in wine will be much less. Therefore, when eating desserts, desserts with high sugar content will cover up the taste of wine and lose its original flavor. You should choose a slightly sweeter wine. Only in this way can the wine keep its original flavor.

Bitterness: Still use the principle of "personal preference". Bitter wine and bitter food will reduce the bitterness. So if you want to reduce or eliminate bitterness, you can mix bitter wine with bitter food.

Salty taste: generally, there is no salty wine, but there are many wines that can reduce the salty taste of salty food. Many countries and regions in the world use lemon juice or alcohol when eating seafood such as fish. The main reason is that acid can reduce the salinity of fish and make it more delicious.

How to use a knife and fork

British people and Americans have different eating habits. When eating meat and vegetables, the Englishman holds a fork in his left hand, with the tip of the fork facing down, and ties up the meat and sends it to his mouth. If it is cooked, they will put it on a fork and send it to their mouth with a knife. Americans cut meat in the same way, then put down the knife in their right hand, put on a fork, put the fork tip up and insert it under the meat. Don't use a knife, shovel up the meat and send it to their mouths to eat. When eating, scooping it up with the back of a fork does not violate table manners, but it does look unsightly. When eating rice and other dishes, you can naturally turn the fork to the front and scoop it up, because the concave part of the fork is designed for this purpose. At this time, you can also use a knife to assist the dining action. When scooping the dishes on the plate, use a knife to prevent the dishes from scattering outside the plate, so as to scoop the dishes on the plate clean. If there are dishes with sauce, you can also scrape the sauce with a knife, and then send the dishes and information together with a spoon or a spoonful of sauce. It's a mistake to fork it up and then pour the sauce on it with a spoon, because in this way, when the food is delivered to your mouth, the sauce will drip everywhere and make a mess. When scooping vegetables with a fork, hold the fork in your left hand, put the food in the fork belly on the front of the fork and send it to your mouth. If you don't need a knife, you can eat with a fork in your right hand in a relaxed occasion with friends. Rice should be scooped with a fork belly instead of a fork back, which makes it easier to eat and more elegant and natural. When the flour and rice in the dish gathers, it can be blocked with a knife and then scooped up with a fork. You can also use a spoon instead of a knife. Gather the dishes on the spoon with a fork, and then send the food into the mouth with a spoon. The use of a spoon for sauce is the same as that of a general spoon. You should use a fork to push the dish onto the sauce spoon, instead of fork the dish and pour the sauce with the sauce spoon, because the latter is against etiquette.

Types of knives and forks

Knives, forks and other silverware are called tableware. Knives and forks are divided into meat, fish, appetizers and desserts, while spoons are used for seasoning besides appetizers, soups, coffee and tea. Seasoning spoon is a spoon used when adding seasoning, which is mostly used for dessert or fish dishes. The tableware used today is constantly changing with the change of cooking. In the set meal of formal western food, knives and forks with different shapes are often used according to the characteristics of different cuisines, and not all of them are put out at the beginning. When it comes to complete sets, it is easy to think of silverware on the dining table, but now most of them are 2-3 single discs. Therefore, the formal dining decorations filled with silverware on the dining table may only be seen at the wedding reception. Recently, the use of a set of knives and forks has become less and less, and more and more people only eat 2-3 appetizers, and knives and forks are not changed with them. Most of them eat appetizers with a knife and fork. Moreover, there are more and more restaurants with knives and forks (or spoons) on them and placed on the right side of the plate. In any restaurant, the shape of the knife used by cook the meat is basically the same, but the knife used for cooking fish often varies from restaurant to restaurant. Especially recently, fish cookers with the same width as meat cookers tend to be gradually inclined, and those wider than this width are also common. There are also some fish cooking knives with wide blades and luxurious decorations on the blades. In addition, some restaurants use seasoning spoons instead of fish knives. Knife and fork are like chopsticks racks in China. Sometimes knives and forks (or spoons) are put on the knife and fork rack as a group; Sometimes, knives, forks and spoons will be placed in groups on the knife and fork rack; Sometimes knives and forks (or spoons) are put on them as a group, so that the blade of the knife and the front end of the fork will not touch the tablecloth.

How to place knives and forks

When eating, it is 8-shaped. If there is a short break between meals, you can divide the knife and fork into plates. The knife head and fork tip are in the shape of "I" or "I", and the knife and fork are facing themselves, indicating that they want to continue eating. If you are talking, you can hold the knife and fork, but if you need to gesture, you should put it down and never wave it in the air. It should be noted that at no time should one end of a knife and fork be placed on a plate and the other end on a table. Knife and fork have another very important function besides cutting vegetables into the mouth. The arrangement of knives and forks conveys the message of "eating" or "ending eating". The waiter uses this method to judge the dining situation of the guests and whether to clean the tableware for the next service. So I hope Jirun can remember the correct placement of tableware. It is particularly important to note that the blade side must face itself. There are two ways to place the meal tail: in the middle of the meal, the lower surface of the fork can face upwards, and the blade side of the knife is inward close to the fork and placed in parallel on the plate. The following placement methods are divided into English and French, no matter which way is ok, but French is the most commonly used one. Put your hands on the plate as much as possible to avoid falling off because of touch, and it is easier for the waiter to clean up. When attending a wedding reception, put the tableware in the "eating" position anyway, and put away all the dishes as soon as the host and guest finish eating. Therefore, when hosting a banquet, remember to take the guest as the center. At the banquet, each dish uses a pair of knives and forks, and the knives and forks placed in front of you are taken from the outside in turn, because the order in which the knives and forks are placed is exactly the order in which each dish is served. When the knife and fork are used up, the serving is over. When you need to talk or rest halfway, put the knife and fork on both sides of the plate in a figure of eight. On the contrary, the knife and fork handles are placed side by side on the plate, indicating that the dish has been used and the waiter will take the plate away. For appetizers or desserts, if they can be eaten directly with a fork, there is no need to deliberately use a knife. Soft dishes such as salad or rice with eggs can also be eaten with only a fork at a family dinner or an informal dinner with friends. But using knives and forks at formal parties can give people a more elegant and tidy feeling. In addition, in Europe and other places, people can often be seen eating with a fork in their right hand and bread in their left hand. No matter how neat and elegant you eat, this kind of dining can only be done at home or in popular shops, and it is absolutely not feasible in high-end restaurants. Unused knives can be put on the table like this and the waiter will take them away automatically. Although putting the knife and fork together on the plate is a message to end the meal, there is no need to deliberately put the clean knife on the dirty plate. Unused tableware can be put in its original place, but it is strange to stick to the rules of form. It is the most correct thing to improvise and deal with things according to the situation at that time. Even if you drop it, it's not embarrassing. It's embarrassing to bend down and pick it up. So when you drop something, you'd better call the waiter to help you pick it up. The waiter always pays attention to the situation of the guests, so he will bring new tableware soon. In case the waiter doesn't notice, you can raise your hand slightly to the waiter and try not to attract others' attention. The waiter's job is to make the guests eat more enjoyable, so try to ask them.

How to hold a knife and fork

Using knives and forks in pairs is a formal usage. Knife in right hand, fork in left hand. Just like chopsticks, knives are used to cut food and forks are used to send food to the entrance. It should be noted that never use a knife to send food into your mouth. The grip of the fork is to straighten the index finger and press the back of the fork. In addition to holding the knife in the same way as a fork, you can also hold the joint between the handle and the blade tightly with your thumb and forefinger. You can choose a simpler way to eat according to your cooking. Hold your thumb against the side, then straighten your index finger, press the back of the knife and fork respectively, and clamp them hard. This is the way to eat meat dishes or hard dishes. Pinch the joint between the handle and the blade with your thumb and forefinger, and then gently buckle the handle with your other fingers. Hold the fork as above. This is the way to eat fish dishes or soft dishes. If you hold it with all your fingers, it will destroy the overall balance. Holding it with your thumb and forefinger is the key to holding a knife and fork. Seasoning is a spoon, which is a unique tableware in French cuisine. Although it has existed before, it has only recently become popular. At one time, thick sauce was very popular in French cuisine. Even with a knife, you can get a sauce, but later, lighter sauces became popular. Therefore, in order to obtain the sauce, the existing seasoning must be improved again with a spoon. When changing knives with spoons or spices, you must hold the spoon in your right hand and the fork in your left hand. The spoon is held in the same way as a pen. When cutting food with seasoning and spoon, the grip is the same as that of a knife. But when you take the sauce, you should hold it like a spoon. After the food is cut, scoop up the vegetables and sauces on the plate and eat them. Can you cut it all before eating it with your right hand? It doesn't matter whether you are at home or in a relaxed store, but it's best to avoid it in high-end restaurants. For example, in a high-end restaurant, you will never hold your rice bowl to your mouth and stutter, just like at home. Similarly, in high-end restaurants, it is not appropriate to change the fork into a right-handed one. If you are not used to holding a fork with your left hand, you may find it difficult, but once you can use it flexibly, you will enjoy eating.

Application of various knife methods

Cutting is a widely used processing method. The essentials of this knife method are: the knife is perpendicular to the raw material, the right hand shakes hands, the left hand firmly holds the raw material, and the first joints of the index finger, middle finger and nameless little finger are pressed on the left side of the knife, so as to control the backward movement of the knife evenly and operate from top to bottom. This method is mainly used for processing boneless raw materials. Cutting can be divided into straight cutting, push cutting, push-pull cutting, sawing, rolling cutting, turning, displacement cutting and other methods.

Basic usage of knife and fork

The basic action of cooking after serving is "cutting with a knife in your right hand and fork with a fork in your left hand". Press the left end of the dish with a fork and fix it. After cutting the dish into a bite along the side of the fork with a knife, the fork can be left directly at the entrance of the dish. Simply put, it means "hold it down with a fork first and then cut it with a knife". If you want to cut vegetables smoothly, start with your posture! Correct posture and proper angle are very important. Too high elbows on both sides will make the knife and fork angle too large and upright; On the other hand, if the elbow is too low, the knife and fork will fall off and it will be impossible to cut the food well. Relax your shoulders and wrists, don't open your arms, and keep the angle between the knife and the plate at about 15 degrees. Here is a summary of seven points: sitting and cooking; Relax your shoulders and wrists; Keep your arms close to your body; Elbows should not be too high or too low; Knife and fork tilt to the plate; Hold the dish tightly with a fork; Move the knife gently, but hold it firmly. This not only makes it easy to cut food, but also looks quite elegant. The way the knife moves is also reasonable. First, the fork in the left hand is hard, and then the knife is gently moved. Be careful not to use force when pulling the knife backward, but to use force when pressing the knife forward, so as to cut the food neatly.

If the elbows on both sides are too high, the angle between the knife and fork will be too large to cut the food neatly. Don't tilt the knife and fork too much. The fork can be changed freely according to the characteristics of cooking, which is convenient for eating. When eating with a fork, the back of the fork must face up. However, when eating with a spoon, the fork should face up. Unlike chopsticks, the fork can rotate up and down according to the cooking characteristics, which is convenient to use.

You can't change the position of the set tableware at will, but if you are left-handed, you can exchange knives and forks when eating. Just after eating, the tableware must be placed according to the right-handed usage, and the handle of the knife and fork should be placed on the right side of the plate. The main reason for this is that we don't want to bring trouble to the service personnel.

How to eat with your hands?

If you don't know if you should eat with your hands, follow the master. Remember: when food is put on a shallow plate, put it on your own plate before eating. Here are some foods you can eat with your hands: corn with a core, ribs, clams and oysters with shells, lobsters, sandwiches, dry cakes, biscuits and some fruits. Crispy bacon, frog legs, chicken wings and ribs (informal occasions), potato chips or chips, radishes, olives and celery.

How to eat vegetables

Asparagus If there is soup in the asparagus dish you want to eat, cut it into small pieces first, and then use a knife and fork. If the asparagus is large and needs to be dipped in juice, cut off the head first, and then separate the food to prevent the juice from dripping and dropping. You can also dip the stem in your hand and eat it. For small asparagus, you can dip it in your hands.

Tomatoes can be eaten by hand except salad. Pick a smaller one and put it in your mouth. Don't chew with your mouth open, because the juice will overflow. Shut your mouth. If there is only one big tomato on the plate, peel it off gently with your teeth, bite off half first, and then eat the other half slowly.

Corn cob Fresh corn cob is often eaten in informal occasions. You can break it in half first for easy access. It is worth noting that don't sprinkle too much butter or seasoning on it at a time. Choose to eat horizontally or around, whichever will do. First, gather several rows or portions of butter and sprinkle with salt. Change the place after eating, so that your hands and face won't get too spicy.

Potatoes, chips and chips are all eaten by hand. Except that there is juice in the potato chips, in this case, use a fork. Small potato chips can also be eaten. But it would be better to use a fork. If the potato chips are too big to use, fork them with a fork instead of biting them. Put the ketchup on the edge of the plate, hold it in your hand or dip it with a fork. Baked potatoes are often cut when you eat them. If you don't cut from the top with a knife, break the potatoes a little with your hand or fork, add cream or yogurt, cream and shallots, salt and pepper, and add a little at a time. You can eat with skin.

Decorative ingredients

When the decorative materials come to you, take some spoons and put them in your butter pan. If you don't have a butter plate, put it in your own staple food plate. Never put decorative ingredients directly into your mouth. If you want to add salt, sprinkle a little next to the ingredients on the plate. Dip the ingredients into your hand to eat. When an olive is eaten in the mouth, spit the core into the concave hand first, and then put it on the plate. Pickled pickles are eaten with sandwiches by hand and meat by knife and fork. Dill, parsley and cress are eaten with a fork as part of food. You can also eat it with your hands, but if it is covered with salad dressing or sauce, don't eat it with your hands. Lemon slices are used for decoration; Lemon wedges or slices should be squeezed out. Poke the meat gently with a fork. Squeeze the juice into the food that needs seasoning (some restaurants cover lemons with cheese cloth to prevent the juice from splashing).

condiment

When eating radish sauce, mint gum, raisin gum, mustard, applesauce and cranberry sauce, spoon them into the plate first. Then fork the meat with oil to eat. Liquid sauces such as mint, cherry or apricot duck sauce should be poured directly on the meat. It is best to water less, which will not affect the overall taste of meat. Pectin, jam and candied fruit for eating egg rolls and biscuits should be scooped to one side of the butter plate with a spoon, and then evenly spread on bread or small egg rolls with a knife. If there is no spoon, wipe it on the edge of the plate before taking pectin with a knife. When eating curry dishes, you can put peanuts, coconuts, chutney and other seasonings on a plate and mix them with curry. Hot and sour sauce can also be eaten as a side dish without mixing.

Salt and Pepper Taste the food first, then add the salt and pepper. It is impolite to put salt or pepper first. If there is a salt pot on the table, use the salt spoon inside, if not, use a clean knife tip to get it. Food dipped in salt should be placed on one side of your own butter plate or dinner plate. If you are provided with a special salt jar, you can hold it by hand.

Salad Traditionally, salad should be eaten with a fork, but if the salad piece is too big, it should be cut to avoid falling off the fork. The steel knives used to eat salads and fruits are rusty and black. Now the use of stainless steel knives has changed this situation. Eating iceberg lettuce usually requires a knife and fork. When you eat it as a staple food, don't put it on a plate. Put it in your own butter dish, next to the main course. Usually a piece of bread or an egg roll is used to push the salad on the fork on the plate.

Butter Use a knife to spread butter on bread, egg rolls, biscuits or toast. Only a small amount of butter can be spread on small pieces of bread. Don't butter vegetables. Because it is considered an insult to the chef.

How to eat dessert

Ice cream is usually eaten with a small spoon. Use forks and spoons when eating cakes or pies or as part of a meal.

Eating fruit pies usually requires a fork. But if the host provides you with a fork and dessert spoon, fix the pie with a fork and dig it with a spoon. You need to eat the pie with a fork unless there is ice cream on the pie, in which case, both the fork and the spoon should be used. If you eat cream pie, you'd better use a fork instead of your hands. To prevent the filler from leaking from the other end.

Cook pears with a spoon and fork. Fix the pear vertically with a fork, and dig it into small pieces with a spoon. Forks can also be used to rotate the cooked pears, so that the digger can eat the pears. If there is only one spoon, turn the plate by hand, leave the pear core in the plate and scoop out the sugar juice with a spoon.

Fruit sorbet can be eaten with a fork if it is meat, and with a spoon if it is dessert.

Stewed fruit You need a spoon to eat stewed fruit, but you can use a fork to stabilize large pieces of fruit. Spit the nuts of cherries, prunes and preserved plums in a spoon and put them on the edge of the plate.

How to eat fish

Fish is tender and crisp, so restaurants often prepare special spoons instead of knives. This kind of spoon is slightly bigger and flatter than ordinary spoons. It can not only divide vegetables, but also scoop sauce. If you want to eat other mixed vegetables, you'd better use a fork. For fishbone, first stab a straight line near the gills with a knife. Don't pierce the tip of the knife, but pierce it halfway. After picking up the upper body of the fish, start from the beginning, put the knife under the bone and cut it in the direction of the fish tail. Take out the bone and move it to the corner of the plate. Finally, cut off the fish tail.

How to get food with bones

Bird: Cut off the wings and legs first, and then eat the body parts with a knife and fork. You can eat your wings and legs with your hands, but you can't take away your body parts.

Chicken: Eat half of the chicken first. Use a knife and fork to separate the chicken legs and wings from the joints. Then hold the chicken leg (chicken breast or chicken wings) with a fork and cut the meat into pieces of appropriate size with a knife. Only cut two or three pieces at a time. If the occasion is too formal to use a knife and fork, don't move. If it is informal, you can hold a small bone with your hand, but you can use one hand in the middle.

Pork chop: Insert a fork or sharp knife into the center of beef, pork or lamb chop. If there is a paper sleeve on the ribs, you can cut the meat on the bones with your hands so as not to get greasy on your hands. In formal occasions or restaurants, even if you are wrapped in a paper sleeve, you can't chew bones with your hands. These extra things are basically used for decoration and don't mean to make you eat too much. In addition, in informal situations, only when there is no soup on the bone can you pick it up and chew it.

First, cut off the head and tail of the fish with a knife and fork and put it on the edge of the plate. Then split the fish from beginning to end along the bone with the tip of a knife. At this time, you have three choices:

1. Slide the fishbone out.

2. Separate the fish horizontally and take out the fishbone.

3. Remove the top piece and bone it after eating.

If you eat the small bones in your mouth and pinch them out with your thumb and forefinger, people who love fish will even eat the small fish head, and you will be lucky to eat the cheek of the fish.

How to eat bread

It is a principle to tear your hands into small pieces and eat them with your left hand. When eating hard bread, tearing it by hand is not only laborious, but also the crumbs will fall all over the floor. At this time, you can cut it in half with a knife and then tear it into pieces by hand. In order to avoid destroying right and wrong like a saw, you should first pierce the knife into the central part, cut it near your body, and then turn the bread around and cut off the other half. You can fix the bread when you cut it to avoid making noise.

Posture and method of drinking

Alcohol service is generally that the waiter is responsible for pouring a small amount into the sprinkling cup, so that the guests can identify whether the quality is wrong, just as a form, take a sip and answer well. 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 is to 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. When drinking, you should never inhale and drink at the same time, but tilt the glass, just like putting 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's impolite to drink in one breath, look at people through a cup when drinking, drink with a cup, drink while eating, and print lipstick on the edge of the cup. Don't wipe the lipstick mark on the rim of the cup with your fingers. You'd better wipe it with a paper towel.

Soup is also very particular.

You can't drink soup. Scoop the soup from back to front with a spoon, put the bottom of the spoon on your lower lip and send the soup into your mouth. The spoon should be at an angle of 5 degrees with the mouth. The upper body leans forward slightly. When there is not much soup left, you can lift the bowl slightly with your fingers. If the soup is packed in a handmade bowl with a grip ring, you can drink it directly with the grip ring.