Essay on Comparison of Cultural Differences between Chinese and English Banquets

Comparison of Banquet Customs between the East and the West

The custom of banqueting is practiced in all countries of the world, both in the East and the West. Banquet, as the name suggests, is to invite guests to dinner. In people's social interactions, from government officials, down to the common people, as long as the situation requires, will take a variety of forms to hold a banquet activities. It can be seen that the feast is an important element of people's social interaction.

1, the social function of the feast

The importance of the feast is determined by its social function. The reason why people want to invite guests to dinner is because it has the role of contacting feelings and dredging up interpersonal relations. When people sit together, drink wine and savor delicious food, the distance between them is narrowed, their feelings are closer, the relationship is closer, and things are better. The Chinese feel this especially y. Mr. Qian Zhongshu in the "dinner" a question said: "eat a lot of social functions, such as contact feelings, talk about business and so on ............ to their own rice to eat, that is something to invite rice; their own rice can eat and go to eat The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have the right kind of food for your family. The subtleties of socializing are nothing else but this." Hu Ping also said in the article "Confessions of a Gourmet": "Do not eat it? Many relationships in the official world are harmonized at the wine table: the meanest people become bold, and the most worldly people become gentlemen. Heat and aroma, busy in people's faces to weave a rosy color. One seems to be a few years younger, which is the psychological effect; the net stretches a few more complexes, which is the observable effect." Recently, some people even use the form of limerick to ridicule certain improper banquet activities. The so-called "chopsticks a mention, can can; wine glass a end, good to do good to do" words is a little vulgar but also did say to the point of reward.

When we criticize some improper banquets, we should also realize that its function of contacting feelings and facilitating interpersonal relations should not be taken lightly. This point in the world's banquets have been fully embodied in the activities. For example, the United States is a commercially developed country. Business naturally cannot be done without business relationships. Whether a company, an enterprise, a store is stabilized in business relations is the key to his success or failure. If the head of the department does not bend here to establish and stabilize such relationships, he will be in great trouble. It is no wonder that nowadays all kinds of business departments are having public relations departments and some business schools have public relations courses. It is because of this that banquets or hospitality events in the United States or any other business community are plentiful. They don't have to be big on food and drink, but these types of events are indispensable. The Emily Post is Ettiquette, a dictionary of American etiquette, dedicates a chapter to these types of ceremonial events. The purpose of this type of event is described as follows:

To express gratitude for a service rendered;

To celebrate a transaction just concluded;

To gain the confidence of a client or new customer;

To discuss a problem encountered by a person;

To make a better acquaintance;

To ask for a favor;

To suggest or discuss an idea;

To discuss a problem that has been encountered by the same person.

suggesting or discussing certain ideas;

introducing someone else;

leaving the office for a break to relax.

The Chinese are developing a socialist market economy, business activities are increasing, all kinds of socializing are inevitable, and the main form of socializing is still eating and drinking activities. It is wrong to use public money to eat and drink, but the necessary socializing cannot be reduced. Therefore, such activities must be regulated to make it orderly and moderate.

In order to contact feelings, dredge interpersonal relations, not only official banquets activities, such as banquets to entertain visiting foreign guests or internal guests; on the fire of the other sectors of the industry, such as the aforementioned banquets to entertain business customers, in order to maintain good business relations; between the name of the ordinary people are also oil and smoke to celebrate the activities. According to Chinese custom, their own confidants, friends or acquaintances, long time no see, will find a time to get together to drink a little, each other to catch up on old times or other feelings. This kind of banquets between friends and relatives has a kind of affinity role, through this form, has established interpersonal relationships have further strengthened. In order to express the agreement between the common people to carry each other, help, take care of things like that, people will hold a banquet. Every household would have visitors. For important guests who have come from afar, the Chinese people usually have to make a banquet to "receive the dust" for the guests. Guests to leave, or friends and family traveling, people have to "farewell" them. In fact, this kind of banquet activities, other countries are also there, just similar. Ordinary people's lives, there are some big things or activities, such as weddings, funerals, children's birthdays, babies full moon, promotion or housewarming, banquets are also indispensable. Banquets for such events are obviously meant to be celebratory. In this respect, China and English-speaking countries are basically similar. Wedding banquets, birthday banquets, housewarming banquets, and so on, are found in both the East and the West, with perhaps a greater difference in practice. As for banquets for funerals, they are mainly for the elderly among the Chinese people, and when they die, they are considered to be in joyful mourning. This is what is meant by the Chinese term "hongbai xiqi" (red, white and happy events). When an elderly person passes away, their children and grandchildren, as a sign of filial piety and respect, often invite guests to the funeral ceremony. This is a traditional practice of the Chinese people, but in small towns and rural areas of China, very few people hold funeral banquets. Middle-aged people or young people due to illness, injury, natural or man-made disasters and sudden death which are not held at the banquet.

2, the situation and norms of the feast in English-speaking countries

While the feast is to invite people to eat, but there are different forms. This is particularly evident in English-speaking countries. Roughly speaking, they have the following eight forms of banquets.

Seated dinners

Buffet dinners

Luncheons

Receptions

Cocktail parties

.

Potluck parties (BYOB and BYOF=Bring your own bottles and bring your own food);

Picnics (picnics)

Tea parties (tea parties) (Zhu Meiping, 1995).

While the above forms of banquets can be found in China, what is more popular in our country is the banquets, receptions and dinners with seats, and not the way that Westerners bring their own drinks and food and put them together for everyone to **** enjoy, but more often than not, the canteen of the unit makes some delicious food on holidays and sells it to everyone at a cheap price, and then the individual buys some drinks, and his colleagues get together to **** enjoy some of the same. The same to enjoy some.

People in the feast exactly take the form of that generally depends on the status of the guests, the host wants to achieve the purpose and his degree of convenience. In the official international exchanges, hospitality to the visiting head of state to hold a state banquet, (state banquet); hospitality to commercial customers or a variety of business relationships, hospitality to friends, family or colleagues, hospitality to any other need to entertain people, some of them are in accordance with the norms of the banquet, some depending on the specific circumstances, the formal to be formal, to casually casual, it is important to achieve the purpose of the banquet. The important thing is to achieve the purpose of the feast.

In the U.S. business activities, often used in the form of lunch. Some managers have lunch appointments almost every day. This kind of banquet is usually arranged in a restaurant that is more convenient for both the host and the guest, and pre-booked quieter tables than those taught. If you are going to talk business with your guests, it is even more important to have a quieter place. These working lunches usually continue for about an hour. Though it is less strict now, it should not be more than an hour and a half and two hours at the most. If people are in the habit of drinking cocktails before the meal, one drink is more appropriate. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't want to drink. If your guests want to double it again, you don't have to fold it even more, but you can ask for something like orange juice or mineral water instead. If your guest wants to keep drinking, you can politely say, "Maybe we should order, it's getting late." Lunches will be more casual, with little seating arrangements, even if you're entertaining a large number of guests.

Another way to entertain guests at business events in the United States is the business dinner. It is not as frequent and convenient as lunch, but it is used from time to time. When some managers are too busy to schedule lunch appointments, dinner is used. Participate in the kind of dinner activities are often a number of people, all committed to **** the same business. The invited guests must be notified in advance of the banquet. This is usually done by the manager's secretary, who can notify the guests by phone or write a short letter. If there is no secretary, you have to do it yourself. However, it should be noted that such banquets generally do not include family members. It is also important to reserve a quieter table at a convenient restaurant or charter a single room. The host must arrive early to meet the guests, introduce people who do not know each other, and arrange seating for them. Seat the highest-ranking guest or host on the host's right, and the next highest on the left. The rest of the people sit wherever they please. If there is no difference in rank, the host can say, "Gentlemen, please feel free to sit anywhere." When the guests arrive, the host begins to order the wine. Drinking before the meal is usually limited to one or two glasses. Someone asking for a third glass cannot be stopped. But don't ask for another glass for each guest. It is embarrassing to ask for a bottle of wine and not have the guest drink it. If the host asks for wine, it is best to have a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine freely chosen by the guests according to their own habits or tastes. Immediately following the wine is the meal. A formal dinner is usually six courses: soup, fish, main course (meat and vegetables), salad, sweets (pudding, cake, ice cream, etc.) and coffee or tea. Sometimes people also include fish within the main course. Of course it is usually up to the guests to order exactly what they want to eat. This type of business dinner is also often held in conjunction with some other event. For example, guests are invited to dance, go to the opera, listen to music or watch a soccer game after the meal. In New York, some clients are opera fans, and inviting them to a high-level opera performance on Broadway is certainly the most enjoyable thing to do. In the South, in New Orleans, some clients love jazz, and an evening in the French Quarter would be delightful.

There is another traditional way of entertaining guests in the American business world, and that is to invite one's business clients to a country club not far from town for a game of golf or tennis, a swim, or the organization of other sporting events. There are usually two ways of doing this: the host invites his guests to arrive at the country club in the morning, play golf or tennis,**** have lunch, and then hit the road and continue back to the office to work or go home. The other practice is for the host and guest to work in the morning and then make a date to drive together or separately to the country club*** for lunch and then play golf or tennis after the meal.

Some of the banquets in the American business world described above are limited to those who are related to the business activity by, and family members are excluded.

But in fact, some business dinners also invite family members to attend. For example, out-of-town business customers and their families to the host's town of residence to travel and tourism; the host would like to establish a closer relationship with a customer; the host of the formal banquet or dance, the need for both husband and wife to participate in; the host and their own business relations have become good friends, and would like to share this friendship with their own and their friends' relatives; the host of the owner of the company, he would like to deepen the understanding of the mutual between the employees. Understanding. In all these cases, inviting family members to the banquet is inevitable. Generally, business banquets with family members are arranged in the evening, in outside restaurants, but sometimes they are also held at home. Home banquets often make guests feel at ease, guests to return. Sometimes it is also the case that company colleagues are invited to have breakfast or lunch at home, which is generally done to facilitate personal interaction.

China is developing a socialist market economy and business activities are becoming more and more frequent. There is also a lot of socializing in business. However, for the most part, Chinese people are more accustomed to feasting in dinner houses. As China's culinary arts are renowned both at home and abroad, Chinese restaurants of various cuisines abound, and people generally pick those restaurants with specialties for their guests to have a gourmet meal, so that the internal guests can feast and the foreign guests can enjoy the elegance of Chinese food culture. Some restaurants or hotels also have karaoke, and those who are interested can also try their voices. Of course, after the meal to take guests to the theater, music or bowling, or other similar recreational activities are also organized.

Whether it is an official banquet or a business banquet, the authorities have specific norms to follow, so as long as people act according to the paradigm they can achieve the desired purpose and not be rude. The general bad grasp is the folk of the family feast. Feasting at home, whether formal or informal, whether Chinese or Western, involves the purpose of the feast. If not well thought out in that one part of the process, it may be in into displeasure, or even misunderstanding. Not only does it not complement the harmony of interpersonal relationships, but it can further damage it, and knowledge of this is obviously essential.

In the English-speaking countries banquet guests, whether in restaurants, clubs or at home, no matter how many or few people, must do the following points in order to make the banquet successful. First of all, the invited guests should generally be like-minded, and similar in temperament. China and an old saying, the road is "wine meets a friend a thousand cups less, the words do not agree with more than half a sentence", I think it is appropriate to use here. If the guests to the banquet to speak not to talk to each other is very easy to destroy the joyful atmosphere at the table. Secondly, the menu should be carefully prepared, so that the dishes are suitable for the guests' tastes. In addition, the table should be gorgeous: napkins should be ironed, silver tableware should be wiped clean, glassware should be sparkling. The food should be well cooked. If there are servants, or if waiters are temporarily employed, these should be amiable and competent in their duties. Lastly, the hosts themselves were to be elegant and gracious in their behavior, modest and warm in their manner; they were to welcome their guests warmly, and to be overjoyed at their presence.

In English-speaking countries, there are formal and informal ways to feast. In terms of Western cuisine, as long as the feast, guests sitting around the table, there are people for them to pour wine on the dishes, are regarded as a formal feast. Of course, there are also differences in the degree of such formal banquets, mainly in the manner of dress of the host and guests, the texture of the tableware specifications, the type of dishes and the level of service. It is said that in the early part of this century, a banquet without servant service could not be considered formal. Bringing it to the present day has changed the conception of the people considerably. As long as the hostess can cook a good meal, the tableware is beautiful, the wine vessels are sparkling, and the table is arranged in a proper manner during the feast, it is also a very formal specification for a banquet. To invite guests, the first step is to decide on the list of invitees. With the people invited people preferably like-minded, similar temperament, but people's personalities and interests are always different. When the host arranges the seating, he may wish to arrange the like-minded people together and separate those who have conflicting views. But it is beneficial for people to have some different views or even have a small argument about a particular issue, because they can stimulate interest and spark different topics.

The dining table for western banquets is usually rectangular. During the meal, the male and female hosts sit at either end of the table, while the guests sit on either side of the table. The general norm is that the female guest sits to the right of the male host, and she may be a lady of the oldest age, a young girl who has just become engaged, a female writer who has just published a novel, or the wife of the male guest of honor. The male guest of honor, of course, sits to the right of the hostess. If there is no guest of honor among the guests, the hostess may seat the oldest lady among the guests or seat an overnight guest who has already stayed in the host's home for a few days on her husband's right. Otherwise, she may seat male and female guests (including husband and wife) separately, as she prefers. A female guest of honor other than the host is required to sit on the left of the male host, and her husband is required to sit on the left of the hostess.

At a private party, the host never announces the arrival of so-and-so when the guests arrive. But at an official party, it is necessary to do so. Announcing the name of the arriving guest is usually done by someone involved in the service.

At a very formal party, when guests arrive, existing servants greet them at the door and take their coats. The hostess then stands in the doorway of the parlor, smiles, and also shakes the guests' hands and offers a welcome. Of course, she has to say something like "I am very glad to see you.", "I am so glad that you could come!" and so on. and "I am so glad that you could come!" and so on. The host moves around among the other guests who have arrived, apologizing to the others as soon as he notices a new arrival, and then coming over to welcome the newcomer. Most parties are not so formal. The host and hostess tend to stand in the near part of the parlor. When the doorbell is heard ringing, the couple walks up together to welcome the guests. If the man of the house is arriving for cocktails, he serves the new arrivals their favorite alcoholic beverage or asks the wait staff to tend to what they are going to drink. Naturally, the hostess introduces the new arrivals to others they don't know.

If there is pre-dinner cocktail hospitality for guests, the formal party should take place at least an hour later than the time stated on the invitation. If guests are not allowed to have any drinks before the meal, start the banquet 20 minutes later as well, as late arrivals need a little time to rest up. During this short time, the hostess might slip into the kitchen to check on the preparation of the meal, but her absence should be as short as possible.

For guests who do not arrive on time, the host is usually allowed to wait 15 minutes, which means that the feast can start a quarter of an hour later. It is considered rude to wait more than 20 minutes for a late arriving guest at an outside banquet. When the late arriving guest finally makes it to the dining room, it must approach the hostess and apologize to her. At this point, the hostess does not have to stand up. If the late arrival is a female guest, the hostess need only give the guest a quick handshake, while all the other men do not have to stand up in greeting. Of course, the host cannot blame the guest, but should say something polite, such as, "I an so sorry that you had such a bad drive, but I was sure you would not want us to wait for dinner."(The car was feeling sorry for you that it was so hard to drive. I knew you wouldn't want us to wait for you.) Late arrivals are also expected to join the other guests in eating a dish that is being served. If that happens to be sweet, the hostess will tell the waiter to bring a large entree from the kitchen for the guest.

As a general rule, the hostess tells the waiter in advance when the feast will be announced. At very formal banquets, when this sees that the water glasses are up to the brim and the candles are lit, he walks into the parlor and whispers to the hostess, "Dinner is serced." (It's ready to begin.) Or at this point, the hostess happens to look toward the waiter serving in the dining room, who nods his head to signal her, and the hostess announces, "Dinner is ready. Shall we go in?" (The meal is ready, let's go in.) When a guest is still having a cocktail and cannot leave immediately, the hostess will signal the waiter when to start and the waiter will tell the chef. Sometimes some guests enjoy this time with cocktails so much that they don't want to go in and dine. At a large party, when the guests are gathered in piles of ribs talking to each other, even after the announcement of the start of the meal, the guests still do not move. At this point, the hostess will mobilize the guests to enter the dining room and take their seats.

The host leads the hostess into the dining room and sits her on his right. If it's an informal feasting event, the hostess is always the last to enter the dining room. But when the President of the United States or the Governor is the guest of honor at a banquet, that's a different story. In this particular case, the hostess leads the male guest of honor to his seat, and the male host leads the wife of the president or governor to her seat. Only then are the other guests seated. Upon entering the restaurant, guests may be seated according to a seating card with their name on it. If such cards are not available, guests wait for the hostess to make arrangements. The guest of honor sits down as soon as she finds her seat, but the hostess stands until everyone has found his or her place. Of course, before being seated the man is to hold the chair for the lady on his right. The male guest of honor is to sit down after the hostess is seated. The male guest of honor is to accompany the hostess into the dining room, but he is to take care that the lady guest to his right is seated; while the male guest to the hostess' left is to take care that the hostess is seated.

When a formal banquet is in progress, the order in which the food is served is very deliberate. It is customary for the hostess to start each dish and then serve it to the guests in counterclockwise order, with the host waiting until the end. If only the hostess of the banquet, the dishes should be served on behalf of the hostess on the right side of the lady to start. It should be noted that the hostess should never be served first; it would be very rude to do so.

Generally speaking, it is best to fill the glass of water on the Western table before the guests are seated. If not, the waiter can pour water for each glass after the guests are seated. Next, the waiter pours wine for each guest, still following the order of serving as mentioned above. Generally he will say politely, "Wine, sir (or Madam)?" (Wine, sir or madam?). The waiter is to pour the wine on the right side of the guest, without holding the glass up.

As soon as the soup is served, bread in plates or baskets is passed to each person. There are several different styles of bread used at such feasts, such as croissants, thin breads, and crispbreads made of rye or whole wheat. If there is not enough bread to go around, more can be served. When serving food, the waiter should place the bottom of the plate with the flat of his left hand. If the dish is hot, a napkin is placed under the plate to avoid burning your hands. If it is a large oval plate, it is served with both hands. Each dish is served with matching cutlery. In addition, the table has large spoons and forks for guests to use when picking up their dishes.

Finally, when the hostess sees that the last of the sweets has been consumed, she slowly rises and the guests leave their seats and return to the parlor. In the past, after the meal, men and women always separated into separate rooms for coffee or smoking. Today, some large families still do this for formal banquets. However, it is more popular for the host to suggest that the male guests remain seated at the table and have a cup of coffee (demitasse), brandy, or a cigar. This is done primarily to accommodate the ladies, many of whom detest the taste of cigars. Meanwhile, the hostess takes her guests back to the parlor and invites them to drink coffee, sweet dew or smoke cigarettes. She will also often suggest that the guests go to her room to freshen up, and usually two or three will do so, while the majority will remain in the parlor with drinks or conversation. After a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes, the men return to join the women in the parlor, and the host again offers sweet dew or whiskey for the guests to enjoy.

Of course, it was up to the guests to take their leave and go home. The old practice was that the first to bid farewell and leave should be the guest of honor. The other guests, no matter how late, were expected to be there, motionless, waiting for the male and female guests of honor to make their move. Often the situation was that the female guest of honor sat there, muttering, "My God, these people aren't going home!" Suddenly, it dawned on her that she should have excused herself first. But to this day, the norms have changed dramatically. Whenever it gets late, any couple can offer their farewells first. It is now common practice for the valedictorian to rise from his seat, say goodbye to the guest with whom he is talking, then say goodbye to the guest of honor, and then find the hostess. They chat with the host and hostess for a while, thank them, and then say goodbye and leave.

The general practice of formal family entertaining in English-speaking countries, mainly in the United States, has been described above. What should also be mentioned here is the main Western dish of drinking.

The maximum number of dishes for a Western meal is not more than six, as already mentioned above. It should be noted that the salad should be served after the main course and before the dessert. This is not the same as in a restaurant feast. In a restaurant it is usually served as the first course. Unless at an informal banquet where guests are happy for the salad to be served first, it is better to serve the dishes in the order described above. The dishes at a party should be as balanced as possible. For example, a greasy dish is best served with a lighter dish. If the second course is scallops with cream, the main course might be better served with roast pigeon or roast lamb. Pay attention to the colors and flavors of the dishes. A single shade or flavor is not desirable.

English-speaking countries are very particular when it comes to their guests. Their wine is not only a variety, and when and what wine, how to drink have certain rules. Generally speaking, before the meal to drink cocktails. It is appropriate to offer two or three varieties of cocktails when the hosts treat their guests. Cocktails are made, for example, people often drink before the meal the Old-fashioned is made of whiskey with ice, soda water, bitters. As the party progresses, guests are served wine with their meal. Generally start drinking sherry, but on the first to soup dishes should contain sherry, that is to say, drinking sherry can not be paired with cream of chicken soup or cream of bisque. It is possible to serve black bean soup or green turtle soup. Sherry should be served in a thin-necked glass bottle before being poured into a small V-shaped glass. Of course, this wine can also be served as a cocktail before the meal or as an accompaniment to the lunch or meal. Guests should drink a dry white wine with their fish or main course. Dry white should be left in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, if not days, before serving, as people like to have a cooler taste. When red meat dishes are served at a party, such as steak or pork chops or the like, duck or game, guests should drink red wine. Of course, at parties that are not very formal, guests can drink wine from start to finish. All red wines should be served above room temperature, but Burgundy (a red wine from the Burgundy region of France or similar wines from other regions) should be served one or two degrees higher. Champagne is just a drinking wine for special parties, and it is usually served with meat dishes. If it is the only wine at the table, it is poured for the guests at the first course. If the Champagne is not of the finest variety, it should be placed in the refrigerator for a day and served potentially cooled down with a wine cooler. Fine Champagne is usually served chilled. Champagne glasses should be wide-rimmed, thin glass, and tall. Wine glasses should be held by the neck when in use, so that the wine drinker can appreciate the color of the wine and keep the wine at the proper temperature. If there is no waiter to serve the wine during the banquet, the host can open the bottle and place it in front of the guests, so that they can pour their own wine. When there are many guests, two bottles of wine may be placed, and one should be placed at each end of the table.

In the olden days, when invited to a banquet, it was impolite for a guest to refuse a certain dish prepared by the host. He was supposed to eat every dish and taste it even if he didn't like it. But in fact some people are allergic to certain foods. Therefore, today at a Western banquet, if he does not want to eat a certain food, such as crab, he may not eat it, but he needs to explain this to the host, lest the host mistakenly think that the reason for his refusal to eat it is that the dish is not of good quality. Therefore, at today's Western banquets, if a certain food is contraindicated, it is perfectly acceptable for the guest to say, "No, thank you." (I don't want it, thank you.) This has become an agreed norm, and the host does not consider it a rude gesture.

Western countries such as Britain and the United States increasingly advocate the kind of free and easy, not subject to the etiquette of the mattress section of the comfortable form of the party. So now the popularity of a buffet or semi-buffet style feast form. Buffet dinner, called buffet dinner in English. When the host feasts, the prepared food and various beverages on the table, by the guests themselves to choose. Guests will put their favorite food on a plate, take their own drinks, find a place to sit or stand, while eating and drinking, while talking with others. Buffets are popular for a couple of obvious reasons, firstly, guests are free to walk around and talk more casually. Secondly, there are more guests in the hospitality. There is also no need to be served by others as the guests help themselves to the food. Buffets can be divided into pure buffets or semi-buffets. The former is the guests to clip their own dishes after a casual place to sit and enjoy the banquet place, and with other guests to eat and talk. And do buffet is, the guest clip good food in the pre-set up a table or a few tables to sit down to eat. Semi-buffet to be more formal than the pure buffet, but the meal will not be careful seating, has given the guests greater freedom of movement.

Luncheons are also a common form of socializing in English-speaking countries. There are two kinds of luncheons or lunch parties, one is business luncheons, which has been mentioned earlier, and the other is called social luncheons. People rarely use the word luncheon verbally, preferring to use lunch, but the word luncheon is used formally in writing and in third-person invitations. Typically, a social luncheon is a ladies' gathering where the hostess initiates and invites the ladies to attend. If the luncheon is held on a weekend, men are invited; otherwise, it is a purely women's event. Participants were mostly mothers, housewives, members of women's clubs, or women who worked part-time. Smaller luncheons are sometimes held at the home of the hostess. Larger ones are mostly held in clubs, hotels or restaurants. If the luncheon is attended by men, only is especially light, if the luncheon is attended only by women, the meal is much smaller, but it needs to be made beautifully and tantalizingly. Pre-dinner cocktails again sherry, a mixture containing tomato juice or daiquiris. Of course, there should also be a tomato or a list of fruit juice drinks for those ladies who do not drink alcohol. There are also formal and informal luncheons. The seating of the guests is pre-arranged. If there is a large number of people, guests may be seated at separate tables. Large formal luncheons are usually served by waiters and the procedure for serving the meal is similar to that of a formal banquet. Smaller ones are a different story. Many luncheons are organized as buffets, where guests serve their own food and beverages. This not only eliminates the wait staff, but also makes it much easier for the hostess. For a typical luncheon, two or three courses are sufficient. If it's a family luncheon, there are never more than four courses. The following 5 dishes are commonly used for these types of events, and we can see that the meal is much simpler.

A) Fruit or soup bowls

B) Eggs or shellfish

C) Poultry, beef or lamb (not grilled), or fish

D) Salads

E) Desserts

Of course, luncheons should have bread and butter. Warm bread is a feature of the luncheon. The main alcoholic beverage to accompany the meal is wine, a kind will do, and one of low degree, such as a dry white or red wine. At summer luncheons, white wines are best served cooled down. Iced tea and iced coffee are also favorite beverages to accompany meals. In winter, however, hot tea and coffee are more popular with guests.

It has been mentioned many times above that it is customary for guests to drink cocktails before the meal. The so-called cocktail is made by mixing two or more kinds of liquor with fresh fruit juice or fruit dew, as well as spices and bitters. Cocktail making is a special skill, a cocktail needs which liquor and condiments have specific provisions and modulation methods. Large hotels and restaurants have full-time bartenders. But often drink cocktails people will also make their own. The late U.S. President Roosevelt is said to be very good at this. There are many kinds of cocktails, currently there are more than two thousand kinds. Cocktails have become a common drink used by the high society when entertaining guests.

The main cocktail reception is called cocktail party (cocktail parties), now sometimes referred to a variety of drinks (drinks parties). This kind of party