Setting the table like Buckingham Palace: 10 simple tips for a festive dinner party

The British royal family's dinner parties require about 1,700 pieces of baroque, rococo and neoclassical tableware for each of the 170 seats on the table. The tableware is usually taken from King George IV's 4,000-piece antique service and 1,104 flutes - six for each guest: for water, champagne for toasting, red wine, white wine, sweet wine and port. The Queen personally inspects the table before each reception.

1. Symmetry

The basic thing in serving is the proper arrangement of all items. The royal butlers still measure the table before serving, set the centerpiece (decor) on it, and then begin placing each piece of tableware a certain distance apart depending on the number of guests. This technique will help you design an amazingly beautiful table as well.

2- Use a tablecloth

The tablecloth sets the tone for the entire table due to the color and texture of the fabric. It is good if the pattern of your tablecloth echoes the design of the tableware or will set …

Read more
  • 0

The great waiter: how the profession emerged, its history and modernity

What we will tell you about in the article:

Where the word came from

A waiter is not a carrier of food from the kitchen to the table. For the restaurant, it is a hallmark of the level and style of service, for the guest it is part of a pleasant or not so pleasant experience. Nowadays we can't imagine a restaurant without waiters, but this job was not always the way we are used to: greeting the guest at the table, offering the menu, helping with the choice, bringing the dish, calculating and clearing the table.

In the Russian language, the word "waiter" came from French. It is known that it was borrowed in the XIX century. The original - officiant - is a derivative of officier, which means to serve. The same roots in the word "officer".

In English, the word "waiter" is used. It has existed since the end of the XIV century. Initially, this was the name of domestic servants who brought food and cleaned the table. When applied to the employees of publi…

Read more
  • 0

What does “sucks under the spoon” mean and where is this spoon located? A Russian language expert tells us

Perhaps everyone has heard the phraseology "sucking under the spoon". It is so common that the words in it are not even perceived separately. But if you think about it: what kind of feeling is "sucking"? And is there really an organ in our body called "spoon"?

Frankly speaking, yes, there is. So in colloquial speech is called a depression under the ribs above the scapula of the sternum. If we delve into the anatomy, we find out that in this area are part of the stomach, pancreas and nerve plexus, and all together they are responsible for the physiological response to stress.

Curiously, "spoon" itself has already gone from the Russian language. If a patient comes to the doctor and starts complaining about unpleasant sensations in this part of the body, he will hardly use the word "spoon". But the phraseology is alive and popular.

Why does it suck under the spoon exactly when we want to eat? Because hunger is a stress for the organism. But the National Co…

Read more
  • 0

10 first date etiquette rules to make it work

Observe the dress code

It does not matter whether you met on the Internet or have long been in a friendly relationship and decided to move to the plane of love - on the first date should be yourself, observing the elementary rules of etiquette. To begin with appearance - clothes should be clean, neat, appropriate to the situation. Going to the restaurant, observe the dress code, for example, girls should refuse extremely short skirts and deep cleavage, and men - from sports pants and stretched T-shirts.

Don't be late

One of the main rules is to be punctual. Even if you want to be waited for with impatience, you should not be late for the first date. This way you will spoil your impression of yourself - no one likes to wait, especially not a stranger yet. If you are late by more than 10 minutes, be sure to write about it to your vis-a-vis and let them know how soon you will appear.

Remember to be gallant

If you went on a first date to a cafe or restaurant, it is…

Read more
  • 0

Hungry Emperor: who invented Chinese chopsticks and how to use them properly

Article Content: History of the emergence of Chinese chopsticks

The legend of the emergence of chopsticks says: once the mythical ruler of China Yu the Great, saving the lands of his kingdom from flooding, wanted to eat, but the cook did not have a spoon. So Yu broke off two twigs from a nearby tree and deftly picked up a piece of hot meat from the cauldron with them. That's how chopsticks came to be.

Some historians believe that chopsticks appeared more than 6000 years ago

The oldest evidence of chopsticks is three pairs of bronze chopsticks 25 centimeters long. They were found near Anyang (Henan Province) and dated back to 1200 B.C. About a century later, an emperor of the Shang Dynasty used handmade chopsticks made of ivory. This shocked the courtiers so much that rumors were passed on by word of mouth for almost a thousand years: the text that mentions it is the Han Feizi, written by Han Fei in the 3rd century BC.

However, historians believe that chopsticks…

Read more
  • 0

Why Marie Antoinette’s breasts are more memorable than her head.

On November 2, 1755, Marie Antoinette, the French queen, wife of Louis XVI, was born. She lived only 37 years, but remembered as one of the most luxurious women in history. And for lovers of a beautiful life, she left something as a legacy.

According to legend, it was the shape of Marie Antoinette's breasts that was used to create the mold for the exquisite champagne glass called a crémant, aka champagne, aka coupe de champagne. Allegedly , King Louis XVI adored his wife so much that he literally wanted to drink champagne from her molds - it was not for nothing that she married him at the age of 14! It was said that the champagne quite corresponded to the size of the queen's left breast.

The volume of the champagne is 200 ml

Of course, such a flat and wide glass is not quite suitable for champagne - sparkling bubbles leave the drink too quickly because of its large area. Narrow glasses like flute or tulip glasses keep the perlage (carbon dioxide bubbles) longer.…

Read more
  • 0

Compliment and compliment: how to use these words correctly and what restaurants have to do with it – says an expert in the Russian language

The thing is that there are two words in the Russian language - "compliment" and "compliment". The worst thing is that they even have the same origin, only the path is different. Let's understand.

As for the compliment, we all know about it. It's a pleasant word to someone's address. "You look beautiful today!" - is a classic compliment. This word came into Russian from French, where a similar construction is called compliment. The French, however, stole it from the Italians in their time - they call the word complimento, which is clothed in words of admiration. It was formed from the Latin verb complere - "to complete, to finish". Semyonov's Etymological Dictionary tells us that the word appeared in the Russian language at the beginning of the XVIII century and had the original meaning - "greeting according to certain rules". Apparently, this greeting included obligatory polite words.

Here we have sorted it out. But what is "compliment", does it exist at all?…

Read more
  • 0

Top mistake when using salt: check yourself

Despite the fact that each person has his own preferences about the degree of saltiness of food, sometimes the addition of this seasoning can offend the one who prepared the dish. It is believed that if a guest salts food without tasting it, he expresses distrust in the culinary skills of the author of the dish.

This peculiarity of etiquette is so telling that it is said to have been used by Henry Ford and Thomas Edison when they were hiring employees. The inventors invited applicants to lunch and observed how they behaved. If a potential employee salted the dish before tasting it, the interview was considered a failure because the applicant showed a tendency to make hasty decisions. According to some reports, the Ford test (or the Edison test) was later used by other companies.

In Chinese etiquette there is a similar tradition related to doubting the skills of the one who prepared the dish. It applies mainly to home-cooked food. So, when serving food, the ho…

Read more
  • 0

How to use a spoon properly. Everything you wanted to know about table etiquette

Communicating with the waiter by arranging cutlery on the plate is a fascinating thing, but unfortunately it is almost impossible. Today, few people know all these secret designations by heart. So we will not study this mysterious alphabet, but will go over the basic rules - how not to be embarrassed at the table, how to hold a spoon, what devices and when to use, and whether you can eat with your hands.

Remember the main thing: everything that is on your table - has a value and its purpose, there are no "extra" devices, plates and other trifles. If you do not want to go into details, just take everything that lies to the left of the plate - with your left hand, and on the right - with your right hand, move from the edges to the plate, and you will be a decent person. Everyone who wants to learn a little more about table behavior - read on.

How to hold cutlery

A spoon and fork are usually held horizontally, balancing them between the first joint of the middle f…

Read more
  • 0

What is a “drunk stick” and why do those who like to drink need one?

These sticks appeared back in the 18th century, and today they have become a fashion accessory. We tell you what swizzle sticks are.

It is not known exactly when drunken sticks or swizzle sticks (from English swizzle sticks) appeared. But already in the XVIII-XIX centuries the owners of sugar cane plantations in the French West Indies elegantly whipped their alcoholic cocktails based on local rum with elegant sticks - twigs of the tree Quararibea turbinata. Their peculiarity was that at the base of each stick there were several "spikes", which turned the swizzle stick into a small but powerful immersion blender. It was very handy for making a variety of French drinks, such as bavaroise made from Caribbean rum, sugar and milk, which was whipped to a frothy consistency.

A twig of the Quararibea turbinata tree was the first drinking stick

But if originally swizzle sticks were intended only for mixing cocktails, in the XX century they found another use. Some ladies, …

Read more
  • 0