The main characteristics of Western food is the main material is prominent, beautiful shape and color, taste delicious, nutritious, convenient supply. Classification of Western cuisine, the first of the Western dishes - French cuisine
The French have always been known for eating and eating well, French cuisine is still ranked first in the world of Western cuisine.
French cuisine is characterized by: a wide range of materials (such as snails, foie gras are delicious French cuisine), fine processing, cooking, taste thick and light, colorful varieties; French cuisine is also more concerned about eating half-cooked or raw food, such as steak, lamb shank to half-cooked tender characteristics of the oysters of the sea can be eaten raw, roasted duck is generally one or six ripe for consumption, etc. French cuisine attaches importance to the seasoning, seasoning varieties. French cuisine emphasizes flavoring and a wide variety of condiments. Seasoned with wine, what kind of dishes to choose what wine have strict rules, such as soup with wine, seafood with brandy, desserts with a variety of sweet wine or brandy, etc.; French cuisine and cheese, a variety of varieties. French people are very fond of eating cheese, fruit and a variety of fresh vegetables.
The famous dishes of French cuisine are: Marseille fish soup, foie gras steak, Paris lobster, red wine, chicken, chicken, chicken liver steak.
Simplicity and etiquette - British Western food
British food cooking, known as the family cuisine. British cuisine is characterized by: less oil, light, seasoned with less wine, condiments are mostly placed on the dining table by the guests to choose their own. Cooking pay attention to tender, light flavor, the selection of materials focus on seafood and various types of vegetables, the amount of food requirements for small and refined. British cuisine cooking methods to steam, boil, burn, smoke.
The famous dishes of British cuisine are: chicken salad, grilled prawns Soufflé, potatoes braised lamb, roast lamb saddle, winter solstice pudding, and George steak.
The originator of Western cuisine--Italian meal
In the era of the Roman Empire, Italy was the political, economic and cultural center of Europe, although Italy later fell behind, but in terms of Western cooking, Italy is the originator, comparable to France and Britain.
Italian cuisine is characterized by: original flavor, known for its strong taste. Cooking focus on deep-fried, smoked, etc., to stir-fry, fried, deep-fried, braised and other methods.
Italians love pasta, the practice of eating a lot. The production of pasta has unique features, a variety of shapes, colors, flavors of at least dozens of kinds of pasta, such as letter-shaped, shell-shaped, solid pasta, macaroni, etc.. Italians also enjoy Italian-style ravioli, Italian-style dumplings and so on.
The famous dishes of Italian cuisine are: macaroni vegetable soup, bureau ravioli, cheese bureau macaroni, minced meat macaroni, pizza and so on.
Nutrition and fast - American cuisine
American cuisine is developed on the basis of British cuisine, inherited the simple, light characteristics of British cuisine, the taste of salty and sweet. Americans are generally not interested in spicy flavor, like iron steak dishes, commonly used fruits as ingredients and dishes cooked together, such as pineapple Bureau ham, vegetables and fruits roast duck. Like to eat a variety of fresh vegetables and various fruits. Americans do not have high dietary requirements, as long as the nutrition, fast.
The famous dishes of American cuisine are: roasted turkey, orange roasted mallard duck, American steak, apple salad, pancakes with sugar sauce.
Western classics - Russian dinner
The upper class in the era of Tsarist Russia admired France, and the aristocrats were not only proud to speak French, but also to learn mainly from France in terms of food and cooking techniques. However, after years of evolution, especially in the Russian zone, the food is concerned about calorie-rich varieties, and gradually formed its own cooking characteristics. Russians like to eat hot food, love to eat fish, minced meat, eggs and vegetables made of small buns and meat pie, etc., all kinds of snacks are quite famous.
Russian cuisine is heavier, like to use oil, the production method is relatively simple. The taste is mainly sour, sweet, spicy and salty, and sour cucumber and sour cabbage are often the necessary food in restaurants or on the family table. Cooking methods are characterized by baking, smoking and pickling. Russian cuisine in the Western food influence, some of the Nordic countries located in the frigid zone and Central Europe Yugoslavia national people's daily habits are similar to the Russians, most of them like to pickle a variety of fish, bacon, sausage, ham, as well as pickled cabbage, sour cucumber and so on.
Russian cuisine is famous dishes: assorted cold cuts, caviar, sour cucumber soup, cold apple soup, fish buns, butter chicken rolls and so on.
Beer, self-help - German cuisine
Germans do not pay attention to diet, like to eat fruit, cheese, sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, etc., do not seek ostentatious only seek affordable nutrition, the first invention of the buffet fast food. Germans like to drink beer, the annual Munich Oktoberfest about to consume 1 million liters of beer.
Western food can be roughly divided into French, English, Italian, Russian, American, Mediterranean and many other different styles of cuisine, people in different countries have different eating habits, there is a very graphic way to say that "the French are praised by the chef's skills to eat, the British pay attention to etiquette to eat, the Germans like to eat painfully ... ... ..." Now, let's take a look at the main characteristics of different western foods. Western food talk about Western food, people in the forefront of fashion should not be unfamiliar with this. Western food is a very different from our food culture of imported products. Many people have heard of it, also eaten Western food, but I do not know whether this complex and sophisticated things "know the basics"?
From the beginning of this issue, this magazine will open a "Western cultural profile" column, the long history of Western food culture to you in detail ......
What is Western food?
Western food is the people of our country and other parts of the Eastern countries and regions of the people of the Western countries dishes collectively, broadly speaking, can also be said to be the Western dining culture collectively.
What we call "Western" is customarily referred to European countries and regions, as well as these countries and regions as the main immigrants in North America, South America and Oceania's vast region, so the main Western food is the above region's dining culture.
Westerners call Chinese food "Chinese food" (Chinese food), Japanese food is called Japanese cuisine, Korean food is called Korean cuisine, etc., they will not be generalized as "Oriental cuisine", but rather They do not call it "Oriental cuisine" in general, but rather, they divide it in detail and name it according to the name of the country in particular.
In fact, the Western countries have their own catering culture, each country's dishes are different, for example, the French people will think they are doing French food, the British people think they are doing the dishes are British food. Westerners themselves don't have a clear concept of "Western food", it's a concept for the Chinese and other Orientals.
So why do we have such a concept? This is because when we first came into contact with Western food, we could not tell what was Italian, what was French, or what was English, and we could only have a generalized concept. At that time, our people called it "Pan cuisine", which means "Western". China's ancient people often thought that China is the center of the world, look at other countries and regions are accustomed to bring a kind of pejorative, the East is called "barbarians", the West is called "tomato", the North is called "Hu ", the South is called "barbarians". Therefore, the so-called "Fan food" refers to Western food.
Additionally, as far as the Western countries are concerned, due to the geographic location of the European countries are relatively close, in history there have been a number of national migration, their cultures have long been interpenetrated and integrated with each other, each with a lot of **** the same place. Moreover, the religious beliefs of the Western countries are mainly Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism (only a small part of the people believe in Islam), they are the main branches of Christianity, so in the dietary taboos and dining customs are also largely the same. As for South and North America and Oceania, their cultures are also in the same vein as European culture. Therefore, whether or not Westerners have a clear concept of "Western food", our people and other Oriental people on this part of the same, but with the Oriental diet is very different from the Western food culture collectively referred to as "Western food".
But in recent years, with the East and West of the culture of continuous impact, penetration and mingling, the people of the East has gradually understood the different characteristics of the dishes in the Western food, and began to differentiate between them. Some senior hotel also opened a French restaurant, Italian restaurant, etc., Western food as a general concept gradually tends to fade, but the Western restaurant culture as a whole concept will continue to exist. Eat Western six M How to taste Western culture, research scholars of Western food after a long period of discussion and summarized that: eating Western food should pay attention to the following six "M".
The first is "Menu" (menu);
When you walk into a cafe or a western restaurant, the waiter will lead you to your seat, and when you are seated, the first thing that will be sent up is the menu. The menu is regarded as the face of the restaurant, the owner has always attached importance to the use of the best materials to do the cover of the menu, and some even use soft sheepskin with a variety of beautiful patterns, appearing particularly elegant and delicate.
How to order good food? Here to introduce a bit of experience, that is, after opening the menu, see which dish is named after the name of the restaurant, this dish can not miss. Because the restaurant is not going to take their own store's reputation to joke, so they make the effort to make the dishes, certainly will be delicious, this "signature dish" we must point.
Additionally, it is important to point out that the habit of eating Chinese food is not to treat the problem of Western food ordering: that is, do not ignore the menu, do not let the waiter for you to order. In France, that is, Charles de Gaulle, President Destin to eat Western food also have to look at the menu to order. Because look at the menu, ordering has become an indispensable program to eat Western food, is an elegant lifestyle performance.
The second is "Music";
Luxury high-level Western-style restaurants, there are usually bands, playing some soft music, the general Western-style restaurants also play some wonderful and elegant music. However, the most important thing here is the "audibility" of the music, that is, the sound to achieve "seem to hear and can not hear the degree", that is to say, to concentrate on talking with friends can not be heard, in the rest and relaxation can be heard, this fire to master.
The third is "Mood" (atmosphere);
Eating Western food is about the elegant environment and harmonious atmosphere. There must be music accompanied by the table and table clean, all tableware must be clean. In case of dinner, the lights should be dimmed and there should be red candles on the table to create a romantic, charming and light atmosphere.
The fourth is "Meeting";
That is to say, with whom to eat western food, which is to have a choice. It's best to eat with friends and family or people who share the same interests. Eating western food is mainly for contact feelings, it is best not to talk about business at the western food table. So in the Western restaurant, the atmosphere is generally very warm, less red-faced scenes appear.
The fifth is "Manner";
This refers to "eating style" and "eating attitude". Since it is to eat Western food should follow Western customs, do not be abrupt, especially in the hands of the knife and fork, if the hands dance, it will be "out of shape".
The knife and fork must be held correctly: it should be the right hand to hold the knife, the left hand to take the fork. Use the knife to cut the food into small pieces, and then use the fork to bring it into the mouth. Generally speaking, Europeans do not change hands when using the knife and fork, always use the left hand to hold the fork to send food into the mouth. Americans, on the other hand, put the knife down after cutting and bring the food into the mouth with the fork in the right hand. But no matter when, the knife is never send things into the mouth. Western banquet, the host will arrange men and women sitting next to each other, pay attention to the "lady first" of the Western gentleman, will show the lady's attentiveness.
The sixth is "Meal" (food).
An American gourmet once said: "The Japanese eat with their eyes, and the form of the cuisine is beautiful; eat our Western food, with the nose, so we have a big nose; only you great Chinese know how to eat with the tongue." Chinese food is to "taste" as the core, Western food is to nutrition as the core, as for the flavor that can not be compared with Chinese food. Western food etiquette 1, when seated, the body should be upright, elbows do not put on the table, not stilted feet, and the distance from the table in order to facilitate the use of cutlery for the best. Do not fiddle with the cutlery on the table. Fold the napkin and gently put it on your lap.
2. When eating with a knife and fork, take the knife and fork from the outside to the inside, hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand; when cutting something, hold the fork in the left hand and press the food, hold the knife in the right hand and cut it into small pieces, and then send it to the mouth with the fork. When using a knife, the blade should not be pointed outwards. When you put down your knife and fork during a meal, they should be placed in the shape of a figure of eight, respectively, on the side of the plate. The blade of the knife should be pointed towards you to indicate that you want to continue eating. After each dish, put the knife and fork together on the plate. If you are having a conversation, you can hold the knife and fork without putting them down. When you are not using a knife, you can hold the fork in your right hand, but if you need to make a gesture, you should put down the knife and fork, and never wave the knife and fork in the air, nor hold the knife or fork in one hand while wiping your mouth with a napkin in the other, nor hold a glass of wine in one hand while picking up the food with the fork in the other. Remember, at all times, do not put one end of the knife and fork on the plate and the other end on the table.
3. Don't slurp when drinking soup, and shut up and chew when eating. Do not lick your lips or smack your lips to make noise. If the soup and vegetables are too hot, wait until a little cool before eating, do not blow with your mouth. When drinking soup, use a spoon to scoop from the inside out. When the soup in the soup dish is almost finished, use your left hand to slightly tip up the outside of the soup dish and use the spoon to scoop up the soup. When you finish the soup, leave the spoon in the soup plate (bowl) with the spoon handle pointing towards you.
4. When eating fish, meat and other dishes with thorns or bones, do not spit directly out of the mouth, use a napkin to cover the mouth and gently spit on the fork into the plate. If a small amount of dishes remaining in the plate, do not use a fork to scrape the bottom of the plate, and do not use your fingers to help eat, should be a small piece of bread or fork to help eat. Eat noodles with a fork to roll up the noodles first, and then into the mouth.
5. Bread is usually broken into small pieces and brought to the mouth, do not take the whole piece of bread to bite. When spreading butter and jam, break the bread into small pieces before spreading.
6. When eating chicken, Europeans and Americans often take chicken breast meat is expensive. When you eat chicken legs, you should first force the bone to remove, do not eat with your hands. Eat fish, do not turn the fish, to eat the upper layer of the fish with a knife and fork after picking off the fish bones and then eat the lower layer of meat, to cut a piece of food, the block can not be cut too large, or once the meat are cut into pieces.
7. Drinking coffee if you want to add milk or sugar, add a small spoon to stir evenly, put the small spoon on the coffee mat plate. Drinking should be held in the right hand cup handle, the left hand end of the padded plate, directly with the mouth to drink, do not use a small spoon to scoop a spoon to drink. Eat fruit, do not take the fruit to bite the whole, you should first use a fruit knife to cut into four petals and then use a knife to remove the skin, nucleus, with a fork fork to eat.
8. When eating meat with bones with a knife and fork, you can hold it in your hand. If you want to eat more elegantly, it is better to use a knife. Use the fork to hold the whole piece of meat in place (you can turn the fork upwards and press the back of the fork against the meat), then insert the knife along the bone and cut the meat. It is best to eat as you cut. When you must eat with your hands, hand sanitizer is attached. When hand sanitizer is served with meat on the bone, it means "please eat with your hands". When you eat with your fingers, wash them in a bowl of hand sanitizer. If you get your fingers dirty while eating regular food, ask the waiter to bring you some hand-washing water, and wash your hands gently.
9. Eat bread can be dipped in sauce to eat even sauce are not left, is polite to the chef. Be careful not to "lick" the bread plate clean, but to fork the bread has been torn into small slices, and then dipped in a little sauce to eat, is the elegant way.
The best way to sit down is from the left side. When the chair is pulled out, the body stands up straight at a distance almost touching the table, the usher pushes the chair in, and when the bend of the leg touches the chair behind it, it is time to sit down. When dining, the upper arms and back should rest against the back of the chair, and the abdomen should be kept about a fist's distance from the table. Sitting with your feet crossed is best avoided.
The French have delicate emotions and romantic ideas. As a result, French dining is very elaborate.
French food culture is very long, from Louis XIV, France's food diplomacy is world famous, in the heyday of the French banquet, the table can be on 200 dishes. The French people's favorite dishes are snails and frogs' legs, the favorite food is cheese, the most expensive dish is foie gras, home cooking is fried steak plus shredded potatoes, in addition, the French people are still the world's champion of drinking, especially drinking wine.
France is one of the world's three major culinary kingdoms. The French people are very particular about what they eat, and they spend a lot of money on it. The French do not love scaly fish or spicy dishes. They generally like to eat slightly raw mouth, fresh and delicious dishes. The French are generally happy to drink raw water (tap water) and are not used to drinking boiled water.
The world-famous French cuisine, with exquisite and luxurious taste, popular with global diners stomach, the French will "eat" as a great pleasure in life, they believe: food is not only a kind of enjoyment, but also a kind of art. 16th century when the French court has a set of food culture is quite sophisticated, the French Revolution, with the palace chef fell into the city, the court began to take root in the folk cuisine.
French cuisine attaches great importance to the use of "ingredients", substandard materials, do not make good food is the maxim of French cuisine, and French cuisine, the characteristics of local ingredients, so that the North and South around the different tastes, so "to what place to eat what dishes, what season to eat what dishes" is very important!
The essence of French cuisine is in the sauce (SAUCE), because of the careful attention to the ingredients, the French use the sauce as a condiment, in order not to destroy the original flavor of the ingredients as a prerequisite for a good sauce can enhance the flavor of the food itself, the texture, so how to mix the best sauce, all depends on the chef's skills! In addition, French cuisine is also known as the most expressive chef connotation of the cuisine, each dish for the chef, is an artistic creation.
French dietary characteristics
The dinner is more important. Love to drink wine, milk, black tea and so on. Go to restaurants to drink coffee and eat fruit and ice cream. Love to eat beef, lamb, chicken, fish, shrimp, eggs, all kinds of roasted intestines and so on. Love to eat all kinds of vegetables. Love to drink clear soup and eat fruits (especially love to eat spinach).
Eating formal French restaurants to eat and drink, tableware, wine with the use of meticulous. Eat what kind of dishes with what kind of knife and fork, is very well studied, so each person in front of two or three sets of selected. The same goes for the wine glass, because matching food and drink is an art here. Customarily, before the meal to drink an aperitif; dining process, if you eat meat with dry red wine; eat fish and shrimp a class of seafood, to drink dry white wine; after the meal, some people also like to drink a little brandy ground a class of strong alcohol. Each kind of wine used in different glasses. Look at the tall, short, fat and thin several glasses placed in front of the heel, but also really evidence of incompetence? But the good thing is that this place does not pay attention to the depth of feeling, a mouthful of boredom. Asked everyone to eat while chatting, wine just play a role in cheering and regulating the atmosphere, but frequently raised his glass, but are shallow to the point. Maintain a pleasant atmosphere at the table, but not too noisy.
The French have the following characteristics in food hobbies:
1, pay attention to cooking fire, pay attention to the freshness of the dishes, emphasizing the quality of the dishes.
2, taste: generally like fat, thick, fresh, tender, prefer sour, sweet, salty.
3, food: staple food for rice or flour, love to eat snacks; side dishes love to eat fat pork, mutton, beef, fish, shrimp, chicken, eggs and a variety of intestines and fresh vegetables, and occasionally would like to taste some novelty food, such as snails, earthworms, marrows, and so on; like to use the cloves, peppercorns, cilantro, garlic, tomato juice, etc. for seasoning.
4, method: to fry, deep frying, burning, grilling, stir-frying and other cooking methods to make the dishes favored.
5, recipes: appreciate the braised Mandarin fish, Kung Pao Pork Dumplings, crispy fried chicken, fried shrimp balls, shredded chicken with silver sprouts, pineapple turkey, plucked apples and other flavorful dishes.
6, water and alcohol: alcohol addiction, especially love to drink wine, rose wine, champagne, etc., generally can not drink or will not drink people often drink some beer; usually their usual beverages and mineral water, soda water, orange juice and black tea or coffee, and so on.
7, fruit: the French people love to eat fruit, especially on the pineapple extra favor, apples, grapes, kiwi and so on is also their favorite varieties: dried fruit like raisins, fried chestnuts and so on.
"The French spend an hour before a meal sipping an aperitif over some olives and small crackers, and when they actually sit down to eat, they don't have that intense hunger." And with countless pauses between each bite of food, the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of eating, and the savoring and praising of the food, helps them stay in shape with ease.
French girls eat small portions of food. Typical French baked croissants weigh a little over 30 grams, while such breads made in the U.S. have almost 60 gram portions; in other words, French girls' stomachs are accustomed to consuming small amounts of food.
French women are very enthusiastic about their meals, typically consuming 60 percent of their day's total calories by 2 p.m., followed by a simple dinner. In China, on the other hand, people often starve themselves throughout the day, but at dinner, they are well-fed and full. Because the French eat a satisfying lunch, they don't need to snack at all times, which helps them keep their weight in check.
The French are no less conscientious about what they eat than the Chinese. They often talk about how good the food is in which restaurant, and what new restaurant has opened in which street, and how they must go to eat there once, and so on. In the acceptance of food culture they are very open, as long as it is delicious, whether it is Italian, Spanish, or North African or Chinese, all accepted. But when it comes to French food, it's definitely "not for me". Only with the Chinese together, they will show a little bit of humility, said "we French Chinese food is the world's most famous two major diet". You see, they actually want to be equal to Chinese food.
The French not only pay attention to the content of the food, but also pay attention to the environment and the interest of eating.
In addition to cats and dogs do not take into account, meat can also be described as a wide variety of familiar snails, frogs legs, horsemeat, plus the traditional meat; seafood is not to mention: oysters, lobsters, crayfish, spider crabs and a variety of sea shells; fish are mainly sea fish, the most popular sea bream, wolverine, sole, turbot, and some of the translation of the name of the fish, and to eat smoked salmon is one of the Christmas traditions. The eating of smoked salmon is one of the Christmas traditions. Those who hunt also eat sandpipers, a small bird that is full of meat and very tasty.
Much of the meat is stewed, roasted and fried. In general, they don't have the concept of "stir-frying", but rather a prelude to cooking. So French food can be made in advance, unlike Chinese food in order to maintain the tenderness, always have to be the last minute in the kitchen to manipulate the spoon. The condiments they use are basically "herbs", commonly used are scallions, thyme, parsley, bay and so on. Just as Chinese food has more than just soy sauce and vinegar, French food also has a wide variety of seasonings, such as butter, milk, cream, eggs, etc., which can be combined to create a wide variety of flavors, depending on how they are selected and handled. The most representative way to eat for the fried steak, divided into three states, the first for half-cooked, only a few seconds to fry on the table, after cutting is still bloody, some people for this feast, the Chinese will be daunted; the second with blood, more than the former fried for more than 10 seconds; the third for the basic cooked. Eat completely depending on the taste of each person to choose the state of their needs.
The French people eat the variety of green vegetables is by no means as many as in China, and most of them are eaten raw, and the rest is the model of Western cuisine: big and tasteless, but also just to adapt to the French way of cooking. People gradually also use some foreign spices, such as curry and ginger. The French believe that ginger has an aphrodisiac effect, so it is very easy to accept. In addition, cabbage, bean sprouts also slowly began to popularize. Their approach to vegetables is the opposite of Chinese food, with no in-between state: they are either eaten raw or cooked to perfection. Raw vegetables include lettuce, sweet carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. Cooked to a crisp, there's spinach puree or smothered vegetables, even lentils, which are cooked to a soft consistency.
Sweets are even more varied, you can see your mouth watering not to say that you have to buy a taste. The ingredients for sweets are butter, cream, milk, flour, eggs and sugar, but with fruit, chocolate, vanilla and so on, you can make different kinds of pastries. In most cases, homemade treats made at home by enthusiasts are as good as, if not better than, those bought outside.
The atmosphere and decorations of the living room during meals are to be emphasized, and the hosts must carefully arrange the living room beforehand, put in flowers, and in the evening put on soft lights, and the large dining table is paved with ironed tablecloths and cloth napkins, and then put on fine china tableware. The best is the porcelain of Rimozh, white fine porcelain decorated with delicate patterns, the color is also a good match, the sophisticated family to set the silver knife and fork and crystal cups. Wine glasses vary from one to three depending on the family. Generally two, including wine glasses and water cups, there are three on the consideration of red and white wine. In the event of a major occasion, after dinner to open the champagne, and another glass. By the way, the French champagne is a white wine with vapor produced in the Champagne region, which is not to be confused with the small champagne in China. When invited by the French, do not think that "just a little champagne" on the line, because this wine is really not a casual drink.
The knife and fork cutlery to pay attention to have seen the movie "Titanic (TITANIC)" people must have learned, the first look can be really shocked: plate on both sides of the left and right side of three to four sets of knives and forks, cups have a large, medium and small number three. That is the most elaborate one, the general situation on one or two pairs of knives and forks will be enough. Such as eating seafood is even more lively, there are all kinds of tools, if you do not do a big job all feel sorry for them. The general rule is that every dish first from the outside of the knife and fork with the beginning, with the withdrawal, to later on, it is good. Large glasses are used for water, others for red and white wine. Large spoons are used only for soup or communal use; small spoons are used for sweets and coffee, the latter being smaller than the former. If you eat at home, so a meal down pots and pans, cups and spoons can be enough to wash a pass, fortunately, someone invented the dishwasher.
The program of the meal is: first drink an aperitif, to the higher alcohol concentration of wine, and at the same time eat a little salty cookie, is to let the stomach adapt to a little. Then the whole group is seated, the first dish is usually a cold platter, hot cakes or seafood, with a medium-light plate; if the first course is soup, you have to use a deep plate with a large spoon. No matter what is eaten, this first plate is always removed. The ensuing main course is eaten on a large shallow plate and consists of at least two hot dishes, one meat and one vegetable, sometimes with rice or noodles, which are side dishes. The main course was always French bread. After all the people have placed their food on their plates, the hostess picks up her knife and fork and says "bon appétit" before the guests can begin. Sometimes the guests start without knowing the rules, and then the hostess immediately picks up the knife and fork without moving, so as not to appear to be disrespectful. The hot dishes are followed by cheese or mixed lettuce, a small shallow plate, and then a sweet after-dinner snack with coffee or tea. Finally, sometimes the host suggests a digestif, which is a little more alcoholic than an aperitif. Often foreigners who do not understand the French preoccupation with wine will pour an aperitif to their guests during the meal; or someone will pour a full glass of wine as they do in China, and then raise the glass and drink it all; or even get up and pour the wine themselves without distinguishing between the host and the guest. In such cases, the French are generally more tolerant. Those who have been to China know a little bit about the Chinese way of doing things, and they will joke: "When we were in China, we all did according to their habits; in France, we still have to go along with them." But there's no blame at all.
Most French people are very good at cooking, especially when they have guests at home, and couples are very good at it. Generally speaking, when the guests arrive, the wife is responsible for greeting, the husband is in charge of the drinks, and when needed, they both cook at the same time. In such an atmosphere, whatever you eat will give you a cozy feeling. Not to mention the master carefully cooked out of the delicious. If you eat in the restaurant, then the various dishes are not only delicious, the chef can also use all kinds of food colors to spell out a variety of patterns and styles, the degree of sophistication is not the average family can do.
The Chinese who traveled to France to eat French food is the most unacceptable alternating hot and cold, sweet and salty: the first, cold dishes (salty); the second, hot dishes (salty); the third, sweets (cold); finally, coffee or tea (hot and sweetened), not only that, but also to drink alcohol and cold water during the meal. After eating the meal how the stomach to bear only know in their hearts. But the French have never been uncomfortable, and it is inconvenient to complain loudly.
French food is not like Chinese food has several major cuisine, but there are traditional representative dishes, such as duck and foie gras in oil in Dordogne, Alsace pickled cabbage intestines, Brittany's black stew and pancakes, Normandy's beef and sheep water, Provence fish soup, and so on and so forth. The modern new French food more emphasis on the delicate flavor and display style, so that people's taste and vision are beautiful enjoyment.
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, and pre-dinner and dinner wine. It is not necessary to order everything, and it would be rude to order too much and not be able to finish it. A good restaurant will welcome customers who order only appetizers. A starter, a main course (fish or meat) and a dessert is the most appropriate combination. You don't start with the appetizer, but choose the main course you want to eat first, and then the soup that goes with the main course.