How many courses?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 8/2/2022 at 9:05 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Once upon a time, a sorbet would be offered for that purpose.  Only now offered during the very elegant and formal dinners.  

 

When I first experienced this, I thought "how weird"; sorbet in the middle of my dinner?  Eventually, I learned its purpose.  

 

 

Sorbet or granite’…to cleanse the palate between your fish course and entrée.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 8/2/2022 at 9:15 PM, Mary229 said:

I am familiar with sorbet but in my upbringing we ate our salad at the end of the meal as a palate cleanser.  Our salads were quite plain by todays standards and with just a splash of oil and vinegar.  Dessert was eaten later and was not necessarily part of the meal. 

In Italian…”insalada”…salad always served as the final course after the main course of an Italian dinner. The word salad comes from the word insalada.  Insalada means to insulate in Italian. The idea was that the salad served last insulated your entree from causing indigestion. 

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

The word salad comes from the word insalada.  Insalada means to insulate in Italian. The idea was that the salad served last insulated your entree from causing indigestion. 

 

I knew that the salad course came as the final course, but, I did not know the reason for it.  Thanks for the lesson!  

 

16 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Sorbet or granite’…to cleanse the palate between your fish course and entrée.

 

Eventually did learn this.  Maybe this is a good time for me to learn a bit more.  What is the difference between "sorbet" and "sherbet"?  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I knew that the salad course came as the final course, but, I did not know the reason for it.  Thanks for the lesson!  

 

 

Eventually did learn this.  Maybe this is a good time for me to learn a bit more.  What is the difference between "sorbet" and "sherbet"?  

Sorbet is fruit based…sherbet is fruit flavored syrup with a touch of milk.

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Sorbet is fruit based…sherbet is fruit flavored syrup with a touch of milk.

 

Thank you!  

[LandlockedCruiser01]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:40 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

In Italian…”insalada”…salad always served as the final course after the main course of an Italian dinner. The word salad comes from the word insalada.  Insalada means to insulate in Italian. The idea was that the salad served last insulated your entree from causing indigestion. 

Interesting.  In Eastern European cuisines, a salad serves the opposite role: it's served with or instead of a heavier appetizer. (such as pickled herring on rye bread)  In those cuisines, a salad almost never includes lettuce, and usually consists of tomato, cucumber, white onion, and dill.  Sour cream, or oil and vinegar serve as the dressing.

 

A light appetizer like this salad was meant to excite your appetite for the heavier dishes that would come later.

Edited February 19, 2023 by LandlockedCruiser01

[CGTNORMANDIE]

5 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

Interesting.  In Eastern European cuisines, a salad serves the opposite role: it's served with or instead of a heavier appetizer. (such as pickled herring on rye bread)  In those cuisines, a salad almost never includes lettuce, and usually consists of tomato, cucumber, white onion, and dill.  Sour cream, or oil and vinegar serve as the dressing.

 

A light appetizer like this salad was meant to excite your appetite for the heavier dishes that would come later.

As does the Greek horiatiki salad…chopped veggies and tomatoes with olives and feta cheese and no lettuce.  

[Eamon Chute]

We are generally a three course dinner couple. Though, depending on what soups/salad/appetizers are on offer, we might stretch that to four. My wife almost always will have dessert, but more often than not, I will opt for a cheese course to finish the meal.

[Seamus6]

Pre-COVID, on cruises, I normally had 2 choices out of soup, salad, and appetizer and often had too many choices then my entree and often (like Eamon Chute) would have a cheese plate which would be different every night.  post-COVID I struggle to find 2 good choices and end up default to every day choices like Caesar salad and french onion soup, both of which are mediocre at best.  DH always has a dessert.

 

eating out at home we generally just eat what ever sides come with our entree and call it a meal.  DH has something sweet home with coffee.

 

 

[Harters]

I'd generally go

 

Starter (often a salad)

Main course

Cheese

Dessert.

[ArtofZen]

For me it depends on what's on offer and how hungry I am.  In a specialty restaurant, I will eat all courses.  In the MDR, if I see something in every course I want to eat, then I'll go for it.  I also try to aim for balance.  If I'm eating a rich, heavy, main, I will likely skip most of the previous courses unless one or two of them are heavy on the vegetables.  Dessert is variable.  Sometimes I'm too full.  Sometimes there isn't anything on offer that interests me enough.  

[Seamus6]

We haven't sailed HAL since 2015 and I am hoping their food will be better than the last few RC cruises.  the sample menus I have seen look decent so we'll see.

I am hoping I can get them to do a cheese plate once in a while thought I don't see it listed anywhere