There are not many rules for buffets. In China, Chinese and Western dishes are mixed, but if it is a more formal western restaurant, there is still a full set of western food etiquette.

To a large extent, eating Western food is about eating with atmosphere: marble fireplaces, sparkling crystal lamps, silver candlesticks, colorful wines, plus people’s elegant and charming manners, this in itself is A moving oil painting. In order for you to behave more skillfully when you first taste Western food, it is worth spending some effort to familiarize yourself with these dining etiquette.

When sitting, your body should be upright, your elbows should not be placed on the table, and your feet should not be crossed. It is best to keep the distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Do not mess around with the tableware that has been placed on the dining table. Fold the napkin in half and place it gently in your lap.

*When using a knife and fork to eat, take the knife and fork from the outside to the inside. Hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right hand; when cutting things, hold the fork in your left hand to hold down the food, and hold the knife in your right hand to saw it into pieces. Piece it into small pieces and bring it to your mouth with a fork. When using a knife, the blade must not point outward. When you put down your knives and forks during a meal, they should be placed in an "eight" shape and placed on the edge of the dinner plate. The blade of the knife is facing towards you, indicating that you will continue to eat. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate. If you are talking, you can hold the knife and fork without putting it down. When you are not using a knife, you can also hold a fork with your right hand. However, if you need to make a gesture, you should put down the knife and fork. Never wave the knife or fork in the air, nor hold a knife or fork in one hand and hold it in the other hand. Wipe your mouth with a napkin, and do not hold a wine glass in one hand and a fork in the other hand to pick up food. Remember, never put one end of the knife and fork on the plate and the other end on the table.

*Don’t put too much food into your mouth at a time, don’t talk while chewing, and don’t take the initiative to talk to others.

Eating

After taking a seat, the host greets you and starts eating.

When picking up the food, don’t overfill it. After the food on the plate is finished, if it is not enough, you can take more. If the waiter distributes the dishes, if you need to add more, wait until the waiter brings it to you. If you can't eat or don't like a dish, when the waiter serves it or the host takes it, don't refuse it. You can put a small amount on the plate and say "Thank you, that's enough." Don't show your face to dishes that don't suit your taste. Embarrassed expression.

Eat politely. Close your mouth and chew, don't sip the soup, and don't make any noise when eating. If the soup or vegetables are too hot, wait for them to cool down before eating. Do not blow them with your mouth. Do not spit out the fishbones and bones in your mouth directly. Cover your mouth with a napkin and take them out with your hands (chopsticks can be used when eating Chinese food), or spit them gently on a fork and put them on a dish.

Leftover dishes, used tableware and toothpicks should be placed on the plate, not on the table.

Never speak with food in your mouth.

When flossing, cover your mouth with your hand or napkin

Converse

Whether you are the host, companion or guest, you should talk to the people at the same table. Especially those seated next to you. Don't talk to just a few acquaintances or just the same two people. If you don't know your neighbor, you can introduce yourself first.

Toasts

When participating in a banquet held in a foreign country as the guest of honor, you should understand the toasting habits of the other party, that is, who is toasting, when to toast, etc., in order to make necessary preparations. When clinking glasses, the host and the guest of honor clink first. If there are many people, they can raise their glasses at the same time, but not necessarily clink glasses. Be careful not to cross and clink glasses when toasting. When the host and guest of honor are delivering speeches or toasting, they should pause their meals, stop talking, and listen carefully, and do not take this opportunity to smoke. Stand while the national anthem is played. After the host and guest of honor have finished speaking and clinking glasses with the VIP guests, they often go to other tables to toast. In this case, you should stand up and raise your glasses. When clinking glasses, greet each other visually.

Toasting each other at a banquet shows friendship and enlivens the atmosphere, but be sure to drink too much. Drinking too much can easily lead to blunders or even loss of posture, so it must be controlled within one-third of the amount of alcohol consumed.

Taking off your clothes

In social situations, no matter how hot the weather is, you cannot unbutton and take off your clothes in public. At a small banquet, if the host asks the guests to undress, the male guests can take off their coats and put them on the back of the chair.

Drinking tea

(or coffee) When drinking tea or coffee, add milk and sugar if you wish. You can add it to the cup by yourself. After stirring with a small teaspoon, put the teaspoon back into the small cup. In the dish, milk and sugar are usually placed in separate containers. When drinking, hold the cup handle with your right hand and the small saucer with your left hand.

Drinking soup

Do not drink it by sucking it. First use a spoon to scoop up the soup from back to front. Place the bottom of the spoon on your lower lip and bring the soup into your mouth. A 45° angle between the spoon and the mouth is best. The upper body is slightly tilted forward. When there is not much soup left in the bowl, you can use your fingers to raise the bowl slightly. If the soup is served in a bowl with a handle ring, you can directly hold the handle ring to drink it.

Fruits

When eating pears and apples, do not hold them whole and bite them. You should first cut them into four or six pieces with a fruit knife, then peel and core them with a knife, and then hold them with your hands. Eat it while peeling, with the knife edge facing inward and peeling from the outside inward. Peel the banana first and cut it into small pieces with a knife. Oranges can be cut into pieces with a knife and eaten, while oranges, lychees, longans, etc. can be peeled and eaten. Others, such as watermelon and pineapple, are usually peeled and cut into pieces. When eating, you can cut them into small pieces with a fruit knife and eat them with a fork.

Water Bowl

At banquets, when chickens, lobsters, and fruits are served, a small water bowl (copper basin, porcelain bowl, or crystal glass jar) is sometimes presented, with a few drops floating on the water. Rose petals or lemon slices for hand washing (someone once mistakenly thought it was a drink and it became a joke). When washing, take turns to wet your fingers with both hands, rinse gently, and then dry them with a napkin or small towel.

Memorial items

Some hosts provide a small souvenir or a flower for each attendee. At the end of the banquet, the host asked the guests to bring them. In this case, you can say one or two words of praise for the small gift, but there is no need to express your gratitude solemnly. Sometimes, foreign visitors often take the banquet menu as a souvenir, and sometimes ask the guests to sign the menu as a souvenir. Do not take away all kinds of entertainment items, including candies, fruits, cigarettes, etc., except those specially indicated by the host as souvenirs.

Acknowledgement

Sometimes after attending a private banquet, a letter or business card is often given to express gratitude.

Picking up dishes at buffets and cocktail receptions. When the receptionist serves dishes at buffets and cocktail receptions, do not rush to pick them up until they are brought to you. Don’t rush to get the second portion when others around you haven’t gotten the first. Don't crowd around the food table. Step away immediately after taking the food so that others can take it.

Use of tableware

The tableware for Chinese food is mainly bowls and chopsticks, while for Western food, it is knives, forks and plates. Foreigners are usually entertained to eat Chinese food, usually Chinese or Western food, with bowls, chopsticks, and knives and forks set out. The use of a knife and fork is to hold the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand, cut the food into small pieces, and then use the fork to put it into the mouth. Europeans do not change hands when using it, that is, they hold the fork with their left hand from cutting to serving food. Americans put the knife down after cutting and hold the fork in their right hand to bring food into the mouth. When dining, use the knife and fork in the order from outside to inside. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate to show that you are finished. If you have not finished eating, place it in a figure eight or cross position, with the knife edge facing inward. When eating chicken or lobster, you can tear it open with your hands upon the owner's instruction. Otherwise, you can use a knife and fork to cut off the meat and cut it into small pieces. When cutting meat with bones or hard shells, the fork must be firmly inserted into the meat and the knife should be cut close to the edge of the fork to avoid slipping. When chopping vegetables, be careful not to hit the plate too hard and make a sound. For food that is difficult to fork, or food that is difficult to fork, use a knife to gently push it onto the fork. Except for drinking soup, do not eat with a spoon. The soup is served in a deep plate or a small bowl. When drinking, use a spoon to scoop it up from the inside out and put it into your mouth. When you are about to drink it all, you can hold the plate slightly outward. Food with fishy smell, such as fish, shrimp, game, etc., should be served with lemon. You can squeeze the juice with your hands and drip it on the food to remove the fishy smell.

The basic principle is to hold a knife or spoon in your right hand and a fork in your left hand. If there are more than two, they should be taken from the outermost one inward. The way to hold a knife and fork is to hold the end lightly and press the index finger on the handle. Just hold the spoon like a pen. If it feels inconvenient, you can change the right hand to hold the fork, but changing it frequently will appear rude. When eating larger vegetables, use a knife and fork to fold and cut them. Softer foods can be placed on the flat surface of a fork and trimmed with a knife.

Encountering an unexpected situation

During the banquet, an abnormal situation occurred due to carelessness, such as using too much force, causing the knife and fork to hit the plate and making a sound, or the tableware fell to the ground. Or spilling drinks, etc., you should be calm and don't be anxious. If the tableware makes a sound, you can gently say "I'm sorry" to your neighbor (or to the host). The receptionist can give you a drop of cutlery if you drop it. If the drink spills on your neighbor, you should apologize and help wipe it up; if the other person is a woman, just hand over a clean napkin or handkerchief and let her dry it herself.

Sharing and enjoying food

Regardless of whether vegetarians are willing to accept it, according to research, in ancient times, people gathered together to enjoy food from sharing meat together. started. When an individual is eating, if it is just plants - vegetables, fruits, etc., he can enjoy it by himself without worrying about other creatures coming to snatch it, and everyone will not get together because of this. Only meat as the main food can attract many people together. In this regard, there is not much difference between humans and the animal world. And as long as there is meat to eat, people will not give in. Everyone will definitely compete for it, so it is from sharing to enjoying. Of course, this is inseparable from the fact that everyone hunted together at that time and shared the fruits of victory together after returning. Therefore, eating meat is an important event when our human group begins to sit together and share the joy of life together.

After humans mastered the use of fire, history turned a new page. Humans and beasts are completely differentiated. Everyone formed a circle face to face and enjoyed the joy of eating and drinking together. Over the long years, people have gradually mastered some skills, cooking techniques have been continuously improved, the means of enjoying meals have also been increasing, and people have begun to further understand and improve the ways and means of eating. This kind of social interaction due to eating gradually transformed into enjoying delicious food, and became a common form of people's communication and one of the necessary contents of life. People no longer eat just for the sake of eating. Food gatherings have become a common way to communicate, gather together, and express friendship.

This form of sharing a meal promotes the development of relationships between people. Whenever there is a dinner party, everyone enjoys it and consolidates the group life. After the meal, everyone returned to their own families, that is to say, the table and bed began to be obviously separated.

If someone is not invited to a family gathering, a family gathering, or a village gathering, it is like an expulsion for him. Therefore, having a meal together is not only to avoid hunger, it is to prove that he belongs to this group, but more importantly, it promotes communication between people in the group. No one can make a living just by eating. Everyone needs to interact with others, whether they are relatives, friends or business partners. Therefore, ancient festivals are not just about distributing food to those who are hungry to tide over difficulties. On the contrary, wealth allows us to hold festivals and gather together happily.

As time goes by, eating together also forces everyone to follow certain rules. Etiquette gradually formed as a norm and discipline that everyone must abide by. The birth of table manners is not difficult to understand. If everyone wants to have the opportunity to share with others in the group, he must also find his own suitable position in the group, that is to say, he must be qualified to share. In a group, there are differences in age and gender, and we can say that no other social situation pays more attention to social status than the specific environment of the dinner table. Everyone sitting at the table should appropriately demonstrate the behaviors and practices required by his status and identity, so that he can be accepted and tolerated by society and can be called a "civilized" person.

It is precisely because of the existence of discipline and rules that it brings stability and security to society. That is, everyone should behave according to the expectations of society and accept the constraints of etiquette. If he behaves according to social norms, that is, if he treats others in a civilized and polite manner, he will be accepted by society.

Mr. Knigge* (1752～1796) said in his book "Communication with People" that personal performance is not a private matter, it is a human nature of social ethics and morality. reflect. Etiquette is not an empty set of rules, but a kind of respect for others and an expression of human civilization. Some of today's table manners mainly come from his theories or the norms and etiquette established in his thoughts.

*Adolph (Friedrich Ludwig) Freiherrvon Knigge

Born on October 16, 1752 in a small town near Hannover, Germany, died on May 6, 1796 in Bremen . In 1769, he began studying law in G?ttingen. Working in different departments of state agencies, especially in the country's high courts, provided him with opportunities and conditions to further explore the relationships between people, and provided him with a lot of valuable material for his writing. He has devoted his life to writing since his youth, and his representative works "Communion with People" (published in 1788) and the novel "Journey to Brunswick" (1792) have had a great influence on later generations. In his book "Communicating with People", he mentioned that personal performance is not a private matter, but a manifestation of human nature in social ethics. Etiquette is not an empty set of rules, but a kind of respect for others and an expression of human civilization. Some of today's table manners mainly come from his theories or the norms and etiquette established in his thoughts.