Starters

Is it supposed to be appetizers or different idea? I know some places offer appetizers while we are waiting for the main course being prepared. As the name suggests, whatever is offered as appetizer is supposed to increase your appetite for what follows after...

Hi ak! In Indian food context 'starter' could be confusing word. We Indian eat everything together and we in our homes do not go step by step e.g. Starters them main course and then desserts. We know that if we are being served lunch everything should be available on a platter and we could eat at one go. However, at eating joints or in big hotels there is concept of starters. I am not sure if this helps in flow of gastric juices (as one mylotter has mentioned) but small portions of a starter could either satiate our hunger (as in your case) or will ignite the fire for having the complete meal at once ..... Lol!

Hi, I don't really have nothing much to add to the other responses. I do think sometimes the restaurants do it so they can deal out smaller portions of the dinner that you're waiting for, lol! I like to eat my meal all at once. I do not eat my salad first which is common, I like it with my meal. Same with the appetizers. I might have one or even two if I'm absolutely starving, but prefer to wait for my whole meal. I am not a small eater, just a small person. People still wonder how I could eat so much and not gain a huge amount of weight. Although when I did quit smoking last May I did gain 8-10 pounds but that's nothing in comparison to what I've heard you normally gain. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if this eventually comes back off as its staying the same now. I think the restaurants have to offer these because it does take at least 15-20 minutes go get your dinner to the table. Now I'm hungry.

The hotels are doing it to make money. Like you, I can only eat so much, and if I fill up on the starters, I won't have room for the main course. Starters, or appetizers, are supposed to keep you busy and tide you over until the entree comes. I have known people who like to have a lot of variety and order different things as starters. Quite often the food goes to waste because they don't consume all of it.

Well to be honest, I almost never go to eat at the restaurant, because, unfortunately, my financial resources not allow me. However, what you wrote, it is basically true. In fact, the few times that it happened to me just to eat at the restaurant, the first dish is served, even two or three times, it's just the appetizer. I do not know why do you use this tradition, I still say that if the starter is to my liking, it breaks some of the appetite. Obviously depends on how hungry I am in the situation. If I am really a starter to me like it, so be it.

I like to have something before my meal because the appetizers (starters) are always so good. But I can't eat too much of it because I won't be able to eat all of my meal. I don't eat a lot and get full easily. Usually if guests are coming early, an hour or two before dinner, yes I serve appetizers. What and how much I serve depends on how early they're coming over. I like the custom of having an appetizer. Mostly because they're really good, light types of food. And that's what I like to eat. Some appetizers in restaurants are just like a meal or would serve as a meal for me.

Starters are like a prologue to a novel. Many say it is actually an appetizer. But for me, i actually sets the tone for the meal. Especially when we are with friends for a dinner, we always begin with starters. its not that we believe in appetizers and stuff. But we always prefer to have some pep talks over a soup or a paneer tikka. When you are India, you do have a hell lot fo starters to chose form. And I sincerely dont believe all of them are appetizers. I think its just some convention they are following with no scientific backing.

The origin and value of a 'starter' or "hors d'oevre" is to get the gastric juices flowing and to allow guests to settle themselves at the table and to begin conversation so that they are all ready to eat when the main course arrives. In a hotel or restaurant environment, the starter is important because it allows customers to settle themselves, become accustomed to the environment and have something to occupy them while the chef prepares their main course (which, of course, in every good restaurant is freshly prepared for each order!) Starters are (or should be) something light, small and tasty and the quantities should be only as much as to whet the appetite. Conventional starters include: Soup; a prawn or smoked fish salad; asparagus, globe artichoke or other unusual and tasty vegetable; a small amount of pate with toast or melon, grapefruit or some other similar fruit. A starter should never be more than a morsel and should merely take the edge off hunger so that the real business of eating may be enjoyed at some leisure.

we typically don't serve starters and seldom order them when eating out. i find that if i eat a starter, then i have no room for the main course!

Starters are usually served before the first course when you're making a full 4 or 7 course meal-- the kind that can last 2-3 hours from start to finish, and sometimes longer. I personally don't see the point, unless I am having a party that will last a long time-- according to the other half, when we used to do our holiday open houses, our employees would stop by and come and go all day, we had an open buffet with the real food and lots of snacks and starters around as well for those that were going to multiple holiday dinners. Over here, people often start parties 2 hours or more before dinner to give people time to get to know one another and socialize and nibble on things while they drink, since you don't get drunk as quickly if you have food in your stomach. Since I don't drink, it doesn't matter to me. A lot of restaurants here have the appetizer thing, but you don't have to order them, it's a choice. Some restaurants provide free rolls or in the case of Mexican food free chips and salsa to snack on while you wait for the food-- I generally don't order appetizers because they fill me up and the meals are more than enough anyway. I don't think it should be automatic in restaurants and hotels, or on cruise ships, but I think it should be an order option for people who want it. At private parties, I just keep bowls of snack food around for people who feel like they have to munch on something.

Starters or appetizers are served to give the guests something to nibble while waiting for the the main course. I think these starters should be just some light food that will trigger the appetite but won't really fill. But I notice some restaurants serving bread and various kind of spread as starters. Anyone who consume a lot of these will definitely get filled. When served with filling starters, the best way is to avoid too much eating. That would be to your advantage otherwise you will end up a loser.

We really do not eat that way here.. well for most of us here but i have seen people doing that in cooking shows and in television.. and i learned from watching that starters are there to wake up the taste buds for more food and often times starters are just light ones..and very little in size.

Yes...it is customary here to have starters or "appetizers." If I eat appetizers, I will more than likely not eat as much or enjoy the main course as much as I would. I don't really serve appetizers at my house but if I were doing a party I guess I would. Just because it is the norm though.

I agree on that and it is also the system in our house.Serving starters dishes before the main course makes the guests more excited.Having also starters is a kind of strategy to other hotels.For me,starter dishes is most likely the decision dish.Because,if the guests or costumers likes the starter dishes they feel more excited to eat the main course.

I think that the appetizers are basically just to tide you over until your meal comes. By the time I eat the appetizers then I am to full to even each much of my dinner so when I go to a resturant I usually just order the appetizer and eat that as my meal. I've never been to someones house that does courses like that.

I don't mind too much at restaurants because that usually means that I get to bring half of my meal home because I usually can not finish it and that means a yummy lunch the next day. Usually when we have guests over there is a big party going on. I just put all the food out at once. I do put a couple of snack items out first in case someone is starving while I get the rest of the food out.

If you mean appetizers, then the name itself explains it. It's to whet your appetite for the main course. The restaurants and hotels I've been to all have starters/appetizers, but not in huge amount. There's the usual small bowl or two of nuts or chips you munch on while waiting for the real food. And when you finish the starters, they don't give you more. It's fine with me, makes me anticipate the food more :)