Serve food with some room around the edge of the plate. A plate filled to the rim spills when carried, sauce runs over the edge, and the diner has no room to cut or mix the food. Do not spread a saucy dish over a dry one, let hot and cold foods touch on the same plate, or pile a second serving onto a half-eaten plate; take it again from the serving dish with a clean spoon.
The rim of a plate is a frame, and leaving it clear serves two purposes. The first is carrying: the server can hold the plate by its edge without touching the food or spilling sauce over the rim. The second is eating: the diner has room to work while cutting meat, mixing rice with sauce, or removing bones from fish. Every movement on a plate filled to the rim can spill food onto the table. Keep the food in the plate’s inner well, leave the rim clean, and wipe away any splashes with a cloth before serving.
The second rule for filling a plate is to serve a small amount. Serve only as much food as the diner will eat in one round, not as much as the plate can hold; keep the serving dish on the table for anyone who wants a second helping. Food on an overloaded plate may go uneaten, cool down, and end up in the trash. Serve children and people with smaller appetites a small portion in particular; anyone who finishes can take more, and each round will be served hot. A lightly filled plate also lets diners decide for themselves how much they eat.
Do not spread a saucy dish over a dry one. If the liquid from dried beans is poured over rice, the grains lose their shape and turn mushy; if oil from a vegetable dish made with olive oil touches savory pastry, the pastry softens. At the table, serve the saucy dish on one side of the plate and rice or bread on the other, so diners can combine the two with their own spoons. Serve wet accompaniments such as pickles, yogurt and cucumber dip, and salad in separate small bowls, not on the plate; pickle brine running across the plate changes the flavor of everything on it.
Hot and cold foods should not touch on the same plate. Cold salad placed next to hot meat warms up and wilts; yogurt and cucumber dip next to hot rice warms, becomes watery, and loses its flavor. Serve cold accompaniments on a separate plate or in a bowl. Choose plates accordingly: serve hot food on a preheated plate and salad and appetizers on a chilled plate. If you want a mixed plate, leave space between the two sides—hot food on one side and cold on the other—so they do not touch.
Do not pile a second serving onto the plate. Adding a new scoop to a half-eaten plate mixes cooled food with hot food and disrupts the arrangement. For anyone who wants seconds, use a clean serving spoon to take another helping from the serving dish, leaving the plate rim clear again. Diners should not put their own spoons into the serving dish; it has its own spoon or ladle, and the serving spoon carries food only from the dish to the plate, never to the mouth. When changing courses, especially from fish or meat to dessert, bringing a clean plate also keeps the flavors from mixing.
Comments (2)
Az koyup tazelemek daha iyi ama misafirlikte insan cimri görünmekten çekiniyor, bizde tabak hep dolu gidiyor.
Kenarı boş bırakmanın taşıma kolaylığı sağlaması pratik bir gerekçe, ben estetik sanıyordum.