In western dining, people pay attention to satiety on the one hand, and enjoy the interest and atmosphere of dining on the other. In order to behave more skillfully when eating western food for the first time, it is very necessary to be familiar with western etiquette.

1. Dining occasions and precautions

When invited to breakfast, lunch, dinner, buffet, cocktail party or tea party, there are usually only two kinds, one is formal and the other is casual. If you go to an upscale restaurant, men should wear neat tops and leather shoes, and women should wear suits and shoes with heels. If formal clothes are specified, men must wear ties.

Here are some of the most representative occasions and matters needing attention:

1. Buffet

Buffet (also a common one at reception) can be breakfast, Chinese food, dinner, or even refreshments. There are cold dishes and hot dishes, which are placed on the dish table together with tableware for guests' use. It is usually held indoors or in the yard or garden to entertain different numbers of guests. Buffet is the best choice if the venue is too small or there are no service personnel to entertain more guests.

at the beginning of the buffet, you should wait in line to get the food. Before taking food, take a plate for food yourself. We should adhere to the principle of "eat less and run more", don't take too much at a time, you can take more times. After eating, put the tableware in the designated place. It is not allowed to "get more than one bargained for". If you eat a buffet in a restaurant, it is generally priced according to the number of people who eat. Some also stipulate the length of the meal, and it is required that you must finish it. If you don't finish it, you need to "buy" what you haven't finished.

There are two types of buffets, and the one that sits and enjoys some services is the most wonderful. It combines an elegant environment with a relaxed atmosphere. Such a party needs certain services, unless it is small enough for the hostess to cope with, and it also needs enough space to accommodate the dining table. The other is that there is no need for a dining table, no service or little service. Guests can entertain themselves and bring their own plates, silverware and napkins to a place where they feel most comfortable, and they can discuss problems at any time.

Buffet not only solves the problems caused by extra services, but also solves the problem that the hostess arranges tables. When guests freely choose the place, the order and suitability for satisfaction are not the responsibility of the host. Many kinds of dishes are often provided, so guests have enough choices, and the host doesn't have to worry about whether the menu meets their appetite.

2. Cocktail party

Cocktail party is lively and simple, which is convenient for people to talk. Drinks are the most important hospitality items, and some snacks, such as snacks, bread, sausages, etc., are prepared and placed on tables and coffee tables or served to guests by waiters with trays, so that guests can walk around at will. The holding time is usually from 5 pm to 7 pm. In recent years, cocktail parties are often held before and after various large-scale international events.

On this occasion, it is best to take a napkin in your hand so as to wipe your hands at any time. Hold the cup in your left hand, so that you are ready to extend your right hand to shake hands with others at any time. Don't forget to wipe your mouth and hands with paper towels after eating. Throw the used paper towels to the designated location.

3. Dinner

Dinner can be divided into grand dinner and informal dinner.

It is a western custom that grand dinners, that is, formal banquets, are basically arranged after 8 pm, and China usually starts from 6 pm to 7 pm. Holding this kind of banquet shows that the host attaches great importance to the theme of the banquet, or for a celebration. Generally, seats should be arranged for formal dinners, and the dress code should be indicated on the invitation. There are speeches or toasts, and sometimes dinner music is arranged, which is played live by a small band.

a casual dinner is a simple form of banquet. This kind of banquet atmosphere is cordial and friendly, suitable for friends and relatives, and some are held at home. Clothing, seats, tableware, layout, etc. need not be too particular, but they are still different from ordinary family dinners.

It is a western custom to invite couples to attend dinner parties at the same time. If you are invited, read your invitation letter carefully, which will indicate whether you will be accompanied by a person, a husband or wife, or bring a partner. When replying to the invitation, you'd better tell the host their names.

4. Other precautions

One of the characteristics of western food is that there are many tableware: various cups, plates, silverware, etc.

Tableware is carefully arranged according to the serving order of different dishes. Put a food plate (or soup plate) at the front of the seat, put a fork in your left hand and a knife in your right hand. The spoon is also placed on the right side of the food plate. Put a spoon, fork and coffee spoon for eating sweets above the food plate, and then put the glass slightly to the right. From the right: grape wine glass, champagne wine glass and beer glass (water glass). Napkins are stacked in beer cups (water cups) or on food plates. Put the bread plate on your left hand, and the butter knife on it is placed horizontally in the plate, with the blade side facing yourself. The number of knives and forks for dinner should be equal to the number of dishes, arranged from outside to inside in the order of serving, with the blade inward, and arranged in the order of eating from outside to middle, followed by appetizers, fish and meat.

In a more formal dinner party, napkins are made of cloth. Napkins in high-end restaurants are often beautifully folded, and some are tied with small ribbons. Be careful not to wipe your nose or face with a napkin.

small bottles of salt and pepper can be placed in front of the middle of each set of tableware, between each set of tableware or even in the center of the dining table, so that one set of small bottles can be used.

after the tableware is set, don't forget the decorations on the table, such as candle holders or making a small vase with your teapot, which can add a romantic atmosphere.

don't put hot water in the glass when entertaining guests, which is neither scientific nor safe, because the glass is easy to get hot. Therefore, hot water, hot tea, etc. should be put in porcelain cups, which are used to hold ice cubes or cold water.

the way of drinking tea in the west is different from that in China. The method of drinking tea in China is generally to put the tea directly in the cup and drink it with boiling water, while the tea is still in the cup. In the west, tea bags are used or tea leaves are soaked in a teapot first, and then the tea is poured out for drinking, leaving no tea leaves in the teacup.

When sitting, keep your body straight, and don't put your elbows on the table, don't cross your legs, and keep a distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Don't fiddle with the tableware set on the dining table. When the hostess picks up the napkin (if there is no hostess, look at the host), it means to start eating. Spread the napkin on your legs. If the napkin is large, fold it in half and put it on your legs to cover the legs above your knees.

at a formal dinner, the napkin should be put away by the ladies before the napkin is put away by the men. It is best to open the napkin with both hands and avoid shaking it back and forth. Don't pin napkins on the neckline, belt or shirt neckline. When eating, keep your head at a certain height, not too low and not move your head too much.

during the meal, if you leave your seat temporarily, you can put your napkin on the chair. Never put the napkin on the table, otherwise it means that you don't want to eat any more and ask the waiter to stop serving you.

Many hosts don't want their guests to smoke at home. If you want to smoke, you can smoke in a designated place after dessert and with the permission of the host or hostess. Don't sit in the dining seat, let the guests around you enjoy the "fairyland" with you.

2. Table manners of western food

What must be noted at the table is:

1. Ordering and serving order of western food

There are four or five categories on the western food menu, which are appetizers, soups, salads, seafood, meat, snacks and so on.

the main course should be decided first. If the main course is fish, the appetizer is meat, which is more varied in taste. In addition to eating a large amount, it is not necessary to prepare a whole meal from the single dish on the menu, as long as the appetizer and the main course are together, and a dessert is enough. You can skip the soup or the appetizer, which is also an ideal combination (but in Italian food, spaghetti is regarded as soup, so in principle, these two dishes are not ordered together).

The formal order of serving a full set of meals is:

1) The first course. The first course of western food is the first course, also known as appetizer. The contents of appetizers are generally divided into cold starter and hot starter, and the common varieties are caviar, foie gras, smoked salmon, chicken tail cup, cream chicken crisp box, baked snail and so on. Because appetizers are appetizers, appetizers generally have a special flavor, with salty and sour tastes, and the quantity is small and the quality is high.

2) soup. Different from Chinese food, 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 soups, American clam soups, Italian vegetable soups, Russian Luo Songtang soups and French baked onion soups. There are few varieties of cold soup, such as German cold soup and Russian cold soup.

3) side dishes. 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. Usually aquatic dishes and eggs, bread and crispy box dishes are called side dishes. Because fish and other dishes are tender and easy to digest, they are placed in front of meat dishes and are called differently from the main course of meat dishes. Western-style fish dishes pay attention to the use of special sauces, including tartar sauce, Dutch sauce, hotel sauce, white cream sauce, archbishop sauce, American sauce and sailor fish sauce.

4) 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 taken from the meat of cattle, sheep, pigs, cowboys 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. Chicken is the most variety of poultry dishes, including pheasant, turkey and bamboo chicken, which can be boiled, fried, roasted and braised. The main sauces are yellow gravy, curry juice and cream juice.

5) vegetable dishes. 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. The main sauces of salad are vinegar oil juice, French juice, dried island juice, cheese salad juice and so on.

In addition to vegetables, salads are also made of fish, meat and eggs. Generally, these salads do not add flavor juice, so they can be used as the first dish in the order of eating.

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

6) dessert. The dessert of western food is eaten after the main course, which can be regarded as the sixth course. In a real sense, it includes all the food after the main course, such as pudding, pancakes, ice cream, cheese, fruit and so on.

7) coffee and tea. The last course of western food is to serve drinks, coffee or tea. Coffee is usually served with sugar and whipped cream. Tea usually contains fragrant peach slices and sugar.

2. Seating problem

Even if the guests have status, status and age higher than the guest of honor, please sit next to the host when arranging seating. The host sits in the main seat, the right hand is the wife of the first important guest, the left hand is the wife of the second important guest, and the hostess sits opposite the host. On both sides of her are the most important first and second male guests.

There are many differences in dining habits between the East and the West, especially in formal western-style banquets. If you don't know anything about this, it is inevitable to be generous.

Mr. Qian Gechuan, a famous scholar, once cited two examples.

First, at a banquet hosted by Hitler, an China envoy used a napkin to wipe his knife and fork according to the custom of eating western food in China. However, this was extremely impolite, as if to blame the knife and fork for being unclean. As soon as Hitler saw it, he immediately ordered the waiter to change the tableware of all the guests, which embarrassed the China envoy.

The second is the embarrassing situation Li Hongzhang made when he was in Germany. Li Hongzhang went to dinner at Bismarck's invitation. Because he didn't know the etiquette of western food, he took a bowl of water to wash his hands after eating fruit and drank it. At that time, Bismarck didn't understand China's reality. In order not to embarrass Li Hongzhang, he also gulped down his hand washing water. Seeing this situation, other civil and military officials had to laugh. Today, the communication between the people of the East and the West is becoming more and more frequent, so it is necessary to know the table manners.

When attending a western banquet, you should pay attention to the following matters:

L. Don't start eating until all the guests are served and the hostess signals. Guests are not allowed to eat any dish until the hostess picks up her spoon or fork. This is an American habit, which is different from some European countries.

2. napkins should be spread on your knees. If the napkin is large, it should be double folded on the leg; If it is small, you can open it all. Although napkins can also be worn around the neck or tied to the chest, they are not generous, so it is best not to do so. You can wipe off the oil stains on your mouth or fingers with a corner of a napkin, but you must never wipe the tableware with a napkin.

3. When eating, sit upright, don't lean forward too much, and don't put your arms across the table to avoid colliding with the guests next to you.

4. When using a knife and fork, use a knife with your right hand and a fork with your left hand. When using only a fork, you can hold it with your right hand. When using a knife, don't turn the blade outward. Don't send food into the entrance with a knife. When cutting meat, you should avoid the knife making noise on the porcelain plate. When eating noodles, you can roll them up with a fork and eat them. Don't pick them. When you put down your knife and fork halfway, you should put them on the plate in a figure of eight. If you put the knife and fork together, it means that the meal is over.

5. You should take the bread by hand, and then put it on the side of a small dish or on the edge of a large plate. Never fork the bread with a fork. Use a butter knife to get butter, not a personal knife. Take out the butter and put it in a small dish beside it. Don't rub it directly on the bread. Don't cut bread with a knife, and don't butter the whole piece of bread. Instead, you should tear off a small piece at a time and eat one piece and spread it one at a time.

6. only use a fork when eating salad. Use your right hand to hold the fork, with the fork tip facing up. If bread and biscuits are served with the salad, you can take a small piece of bread or biscuits with your left hand and help push the salad onto the fork.

7. When eating fish, you can hold the bread in your left hand and the knife in your right hand to push the thorns away. Don't spit the bones or fishbones of the population directly into the plate, but catch them with a fork and put them in the plate gently, or take them out by hand as little as possible without paying attention, and put them on the edge of the plate, not on the table or underground. The fruit core should also be spit in the palm of your hand first, and then put into the plate.

8. When drinking water, you should swallow the food in your mouth first. Don't rinse your food with water. When drinking water from a glass, you should pay attention to wipe off the oil stains on your mouth first to avoid soiling the glass.

9. don't put the dishes in your pocket when eating. When you drink soup, you can tilt the plate and then use a spoon to eat. Don't put the spoon in the cup when drinking tea or coffee.

1. Don't make noise when eating, especially when eating soup. You should shut up when chewing.

11. Don't blow your nose or burp at the table. If you sneeze or cough, you should apologize to the people around you.

12. Don't pick your teeth at the dinner table. If something is stuck in your teeth and you have to take it out, cover your mouth with a napkin, and it is best to wait until no one else is present.

13. It's impolite to keep silent all the time while eating. You should talk to the people around you. But don't talk while chewing food. namely