Cooking School

[Professor's Laboratory ][Table and Tradition] How is the food served?

Formal Meals

First, tea and some nuts and seeds are served. Then comes four to eight cold dishes. After that there are four to eight hot dishes with rice or noodles. The soup and dessert come later. People get what they want by using the utensils placed beside each platter. In this way, you can be sure that the food is very hygienic.

Informal Meals

First, four to eight cold dishes are served. Then comes four to eight hot dishes with rice or noodles. After that there is soup, and then some dessert. Everyone just uses their own pair of chopsticks to get what they want from the platter. You only touch what you eat and nothing else. There is no poking around so the food is quite hygienic.

When do you start eating?

Just like in the West, everyone starts eating when the host raises his chopsticks. When you have finished, you place the pair of chopsticks across the bowl.

Just remember that however formal all this may sound, the Chinese actually have very relaxed meals. They often like to talk and joke around at the table.

Cooking School

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