And you understand something: that although, like all American eaters, you've been conditioned to think of the entree as the climax of the meal, it never is. It is, indeed, almost always disappointing, especially if you order fish.
Tea is an affront to lunch and an insult to dinner.
Often for hors d'oeuvres, I serve room temperature vegetables, something like that, so that the main course might be quite rich but the first course has balanced it out.
Even when I eat, I'll eat my salad first and sort of work around the plate.
Desserts are last, but don't let them be least.
My eating is pretty consistent. I like Greek yogurt for breakfast. I eat two giant salads a day, a broiled meat or fish, and a dark green vegetable at every meal.
Savoury food is for main course, and fruit is for pudding.
With the exception of dessert, food is food.
When I cook a meal, I like to serve things one by one and keep them separate. I get that from my father - he's such a purist. Some people even put their desserts on the main plate. It's just wrong.
A well-made salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those ingredients to share a bowl.
I used to have a bit of a thing against starting a meal with soup. I'd find they were often too heavy, filling you up rather than igniting the appetite. Plus, I'd end up mopping it up with scoops of baguette.
