"Buffet" is an organized free breakfast of many hotels in the world. It is included in the price of the room that you occupy in the hotel. You go down to the buffet, the restaurant, it can be a fenced part of the restaurant, a special room. There is a table in the middle of the hall, which can be located along the wall of this room.

Different food is laid out on it: fruits, and cottage cheese, and juices, and gastronomic snack, and hot dishes under the lid in special bowls, and packaged products in foil (butter, pastes, jam, honey). And on a separate table or on the same table - dishes and cutlery.

How to act? You need to go to the table with dishes, take a plate, fork and knife; hold all this in your left hand, go to the table with food and take a few pieces. If you love fish, it is customary to start your meal with fish.

But it's better to take a little. You put, say, two pieces of fish: salted and smoked, one sprat, sat down at a separate table, put a plate, put cutlery, the fork on the left with its concave part on the tablecloth, the knife on the right, with the blade to the plate.

In almost all countries, it is customary on an empty stomach, before breakfast, to drink a little natural juice. Grab a glass and pour yourself some juice. On a small plate for bread they put a piece of bread, a bun, put it again on the table that you occupied for your breakfast. Juice was placed in front of the plate, and a small plate with bread or a bun was placed to the left of the snack plate. After that, you sat down, drank juice, then took two appliances and started eating. They ate what they put on their plate.

Appliances after you have eaten are placed in parallel. First the knife, then the fork. The knife blade is turned to the fork, the fork with the concave part is on the plate. Appliances placed in parallel are a sign to the waiter that you have finished your meal.

The used plate will either be taken away by the waiter, or you will take it yourself to the table for dirty dishes. They went back to the table with food, took a clean plate, clean cutlery, and again put food to your taste. It can be a piece of ham, carbonate, tongue, etc., seasoning is also put here.

Remember! The seasoning is placed on the right side of the plate, and the waste and bones from olives, fish, meat, using a fork, should be carefully placed on the plate in the upper left corner.

After that, you continue with your breakfast. Large pieces are cut into pieces, one piece is pricked on a fork - and in the mouth. Finished it. If you want to put something else, maybe a little hot, you can leave the cutlery on the table, on a paper napkin, get up, take your plate, go to the table and put what you like on the same plate.

If you ate something with a lot of seasoning sauce and the plate became wet, unpleasant, then you need to put it again in dirty dishes, come up and take a clean plate, put what you want, sit down at the table again and continue food. When you finally finished eating, again put the cutlery in parallel, pushed the plate away or took it to the dirty dishes.

A waitress came up to you and asked: “Coffee, tea?” You answered her. After she serves you tea or coffee, say "Thank you" and drink. If the place where you have breakfast is self-service, you must clean up the dirty dishes yourself - take them to a specially designated place.

So let's recap. What is a buffet? You need to come, be sure to take a plate and two cutlery, put some food, it’s better to come a second, third, in extreme cases, the fourth time, but you can’t put different food on one plate: fish, ham, salad, and hot, etc. .d. This is uncivilized, and it causes not only unpleasant associations, but sometimes even laughter. You can't do that.

Try to take homogeneous food. If you want something else to eat, you need to go to the table again. You can add the following. Sometimes tourists and even business travelers after the "buffet" (everything is free here!) take sandwiches with fish, ham, sausage, fruit into their pockets. This cannot be done. It's not beautiful! You can take out one orange. You can safely carry it, do not hide it anywhere. But we do not recommend wrapping sandwiches, bread, some leftover food in a napkin, stuffing it into pockets and bags for the evening.

You also need to remember that it is IMPOSSIBLE to come to the "buffet" in sportswear, in sports shoes, in bathrobes, in shorts, in T-shirts! You need to come to the "buffet" in the clothes in which you then go to work or for a walk. And in homemade You can't walk around the hotel either.

By following these simple rules of etiquette, you will show your best side.

CHAPTER 1. "BUFFET"

The history of the buffet

The term "buffet" exists only in Russian. In Europe and the USA (from where democratic food formats spread), as well as in Asia (where they have successfully taken root), this type of service has long been called buffet ("buffet") for a long time. However, the “buffet” option is more dear to the Russian ear, and in support of this version there are enough arguments, historical and not very good, to attribute this invention to the nation of northern sailors.

Legend has it that back in ancient times, the Scandinavians prepared a lot of simple but varied food for big feasts. long-term storage from salt and smoked fish and meat boiled eggs, from vegetables, mushrooms and berries, so that when new guests arrive, you don’t have to think about how to feed them. It is clear that it is easier to implement this idea in a cold climate and in that national cuisine, which is adapted to various kinds of workpieces. A few opponents of the "Swedish theory", however, argue that this most democratic way of serving treats originates from the traditional Russian meal "vodka - snack". But this hypothesis does not stand up to historical criticism: democracy was not born in Russia, and the meaning of the buffet is not in strong drinks.

In Sweden itself, this format of serving food is called smorgasbord, that is, a “sandwich table”. Sandwiches here means any hearty meal that can be prepared from anything. The presence of bread is not as important as the principle: serving dishes that are easy to eat and, unlike, for example, pasta with tomato and cheese, do not lose palatability for a long time.

Another idea, also closely related to the national characteristics of the inhabitants of Scandinavia, is the principle of reasonable self-restraint in the absence of control. It was he who once so impressed our compatriots who traveled abroad. The Russian historian and journalist of the second half of the 19th century, Konstantin Skalkovsky, in his book “Traveling Impressions”, in the chapter on the Scandinavians and Flemings, described the meal in the local inn as follows: “Everyone demands both, the maids barely have time to uncork the bottles. There is no account of what is consumed here; there is a book on the table, a pencil is tied to it on a pink ribbon, and the guest himself is obliged to enter what he ate and drank in the book. When leaving, he also sums up his account himself. It is clear that all mistakes remain on the passenger's conscience, but the Swedes prefer to lose something rather than subject the traveler to humiliating control.

Writer Alexander Kuprin, who visited Finland at the beginning of the 20th century, spoke even more touchingly about the northern self-assembly tablecloth: “The long table was lined with hot dishes and cold snacks. All this was unusually clean, appetizing and elegant. There was fresh salmon fried trout, cold roast beef, some game, small, very tasty meatballs and the like. Everyone came up, chose what he liked, ate as much as he wanted, then went up to the buffet and, of his own free will, paid exactly one mark thirty-seven kopecks for dinner. No supervision, no distrust. Our Russian hearts, so deeply accustomed to the passport, the district, to the general fraud and suspicion, were completely crushed by this broad mutual faith. In fairness, it should be said that in addition to noble impulses, the organizers of the "Swedish" and "Finnish" tables, which were observed by our travelers, were also driven by practical considerations. The most common form of service was in restaurants and taverns along the train route. The visitor could not have time to pay for what he had eaten or doubt whether it was necessary to pay for the order at all if there was no time for food. For the convenience of both guests and hosts, a wise solution was found - travelers were offered to immediately pay a fixed amount and take any number of dishes from the buffet counter.

Dishes served buffet style

Buffet (buffet)- a way of serving food, in which many dishes are displayed side by side, and the food is sorted into plates by the guests themselves (for example, at a buffet table). In many countries, this type of service is called buffet. Name Buffet used in Russian and several other languages ​​(e.g. Belarusian: buffet, Ukrainian: swedish style, Polish: szwedzki stoł, Hungarian: svedasztal, Croatian: švedski stol).

In Scandinavian countries, however, there is a tradition to lay a cold snack table (Swedish smörgåsbord, sandwich table, snack table) in a separate room, from which, after eating, guests go to the dining room, where they eat a traditional lunch. What is called in Russian buffet, called in many other languages buffet, due to a change in the meaning of the word buffet in Russian, the term Buffet took his place.

Another, more democratic way of serving dishes on the same principle

Peculiarities [ | ]

The buffet is a Scandinavian tradition that has been adopted throughout the world over time. Its history is rooted in the distant past. Centuries ago, the Scandinavians made blanks for the future from long-term storage products - salted fish, root crops and vegetables, smoked meat. When guests arrived, all the food was served at once, in large bowls. Thus, the owners saved themselves from unnecessary ceremonies, freeing up time for communication. In the 20th century, this method of collective meal was adopted by the whole world.

When self-service on the principle of a buffet in the hall there is one or more counters, on which appetizers, first, second courses of fish and meat, vegetables, cheeses, desserts are displayed in order. The guest, passing along the counter, can choose those dishes that he likes best. He can put the food on the plates himself, or the waiter does it.

The peculiarity of the buffet is the fact that the staff finishes the dishes not taken by the visitors on the buffet (when served by the waiters, it is prepared separately, even according to a different menu). It is not taken by anyone, the remaining on the plates is thrown away.

Varieties [ | ]

There are two main types of buffet organization in terms of paying for a meal. The first is the most democratic option, in which you can choose a plate of any size and go "repeatedly" to the distribution table. The price in this case is fixed and does not depend on the number of products taken. According to the second option, payment is made depending on the size of the plate (the so-called system of plates), on which the ready meals: in a small plate, medium or large. And, in addition, payment is made for each approach.

Buffet(buffet) - a way of serving food, in which many dishes are displayed side by side, and the food is sorted into plates by the guests themselves (for example, at a buffet table). In many countries, this type of service is called buffet service. The name buffet is used in Russian and several other languages ​​from the origin of the tradition.
In Scandinavian countries, there is a tradition to set a cold snack table (Swedish smörgåsbord, sandwich table, snack table) in a separate room, from which, after eating, guests go to the dining room, where they eat a traditional lunch. What is called a buffet in Russian is called a buffet in many other languages, due to the change in the meaning of the word buffet in Russian, the term buffet has taken its place.

The buffet is a Scandinavian tradition that has been adopted throughout the world over time. Its history is rooted in the distant past. Centuries ago, the Scandinavians made preparations for the future from long-term storage products - salted fish, root crops and vegetables, smoked meat. When guests arrived, all the food was served at once, in large bowls. Thus, the owners saved themselves from unnecessary ceremonies, freeing up time for communication. In the 20th century, this method of collective meal was adopted by the whole world.
When self-service on the principle of a buffet in the hall there is one or more counters, on which appetizers, first, second courses of fish and meat, vegetables, cheeses, desserts are displayed in order. The guest, passing along the counter, can choose those dishes that he likes best. He can put the food on the plates himself, or the waiter does it.

There are two main types of buffet organization in terms of paying for a meal. The first is the most democratic option, in which you can choose a plate of any size and go "repeatedly" to the distribution table. The price in this case is fixed and does not depend on the number of products taken. According to the second option, payment is made depending on the size of the plate (the so-called system of plates), on which ready-made dishes are placed: on a small plate, medium or large. And, in addition, payment is made for each approach.

History claims that some Russian innkeepers organized service in their establishments, which in its idea is close to the current buffet: a visitor to the tavern could choose any of the dishes on the table for a fixed fee. In the 18th century, an innovative service technology in Sweden acquired the name "sandwich table", and then spread throughout the world. Now the buffet is one of the most common forms of serving breakfast in hotels, a favorite way to hold brunches and banquets.

The history of the "buffet" (in Swedish it sounds like "smergasbrod", literally - "sandwich table") is as follows: once Sweden was a sparsely populated country, the villages were located far from each other, and if the owner invited many guests, he had to make sure that none of the arrivals have to wait long for refreshments.
Therefore, dishes that can be stored for several days were put on the table: salted herring, potato and boiled vegetable salads, hard-boiled eggs, cold meats and sandwiches.

The "buffet" was convenient not only for incoming guests, but also for the hosts, who did not have to climb over the heads of those sitting to replace an empty dish of meat or pour glasses. There was free access to the tables. So the guests did not interfere with the hosts, and the hosts did not interfere with the guests.
By the way, not only eggs and herring are served at the table. The absolute decoration of the traditional buffet - smoked, boiled, fried and dried fish, shrimp omelet, mushrooms, blood sausage with berry compote, aspic, leberwurst (special ham sausage from pieces pork meat), metwurst (the same, but from beef), chops, ham, potato pancakes, basturma, sweet rice porrige, cheeses, apple cake, jams, salted whipped cream with cumin, lingonberry pancakes, rye bread, sweet buns and homemade bread.

Our shop equipment factory produces Buffet food distribution lines:

They tell a joke. A man enters the hotel, sees a table bursting with food, but for some reason there are no chairs. The visitor looks around, takes a chair from an empty table, moves it to the one filled with food, and begins to feast. "What are you doing? - the master runs up to him. - This is a buffet!" - "Here the Swedes will come, I will get up."

It's hard to imagine people not familiar with the buffet these days. The meaning of the ingenious, I’m not afraid of this word, invention of the Swedes is that for a certain and very reasonable price (for hotel guests or cruise ship passengers it is included in the total payment), you are offered a real tablecloth self-assembly: you can take food as much as you like.

The owners of hotel complexes and other public places where there are buffets do not suffer losses, but, on the contrary, have a stable income. It seems strange: after all, the total cost of dishes that visitors can eat significantly exceeds the notional amount included in the offset. But the thing is that the possibilities of eaters, even the most gluttonous, are limited. Purely physiological. A person cannot eat more than the stomach can hold. Anything above will be rejected.

Today this is obvious to everyone, and therefore the buffet - without exaggeration - has conquered the planet. However, it is probably no coincidence that it originated in Sweden. It is closely related to the general culture of behavior that distinguishes the inhabitants of this country, including the culture of eating. This, as well as many other interesting things, is discussed in the book "Swedes and Russians: the image of a neighbor", written by Olga Chernysheva. Doctor of Historical Sciences, member of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, she is the author of more than a hundred works on various issues of the history of Sweden, as well as other Scandinavian countries. Most of her works, well known to specialists, are strictly scientific in nature. And the new essay, which has yet to take its place on the shelves of bookstores, was the first experience in the popular genre.

At some point, - Olga Vasilievna told me, - I thought that it would be interesting to write just such a book, accessible and interesting to everyone, about how Russians and Swedes look at each other. And then all the scientific treatises, monographs, reports ... To be honest, a little fed up. I wanted to talk about ordinary life in simple, ordinary language. Moreover, Russia and Sweden are neighboring countries connected by numerous ties that go back centuries. The mutual interest of the Swedes and Russians has always existed and continues to this day. I hope that my book, covering chronologically the 19th - early 20th centuries, can help to understand the nature of our neighbors and in some way will be instructive for today's Russia.

And indeed it is. I lived and worked in Sweden for many years, but I read the book with passion. Moreover, it contains the opinions of many Russians, whose names are inscribed in history in golden letters.

If we return to the subject of our conversation - the "buffet", then one of our first compatriots who presented it to the attention of the Russian reader was K. Skalkovsky. In the notes “Traveling Impressions. Among the Scandinavians and Flemings” published in St. Petersburg in 1880, he described this overseas miracle as follows: “Everyone requires both, the maids barely have time to uncork the bottles. a pencil is tied to it on a pink ribbon and everyone is obliged to enter what he ate and drank in the book. When leaving, he also sums up his account himself. It is clear that all mistakes remain on the passenger's conscience, but the Swedes prefer to lose something than subject the traveler to humiliating control."

It is impossible not to notice that since the quoted lines were written, the buffet model has been improved and simplified, but its noble spirit has been preserved.

Almost a third of a century later, the publicist and scientist S. Mech also appreciated the buffet, which he met in the railway buffet: “You enter the buffet - no servants. dishes, there are plates and there are forks, knives and spoons. You take what you want for yourself - anyway, dinner costs 2 francs. When you are satisfied, you give 2 francs and leave. "

A particularly picturesque picture was captured by the remarkable writer Alexander Kuprin, who was treated in Finland in 1909: “The long table was lined with hot dishes and cold snacks. All this was unusually clean, appetizing and elegant. then game, small, very tasty meatballs, etc. Everyone came up, chose what he liked, ate as much as he liked, then went up to the buffet and, of his own free will, paid exactly one mark thirty-seven kopecks for dinner. mistrust. Our Russian hearts, so deeply accustomed to the passport, the district, the forced care of the senior janitor, to general fraud and suspicion, were completely crushed by this broad mutual faith.

Alas, these idyllic impressions were somewhat clouded when the writer returned to the car, where his random fellow travelers were animatedly discussing the new product they had just met.

“When we returned to the car,” writes Kuprin, “a lovely picture in a truly Russian genre was waiting for us. The fact is that two stone contractors were traveling with us. Everyone knows this type of kulak from Meshchovsky district, Kaluga province: a broad, glossy, bony, red muzzle, red hair curling from under a cap, a sparse beard, a roguish look, piety for five-kopeck piece, ardent patriotism, and contempt for everything non-Russian - in a word, a well-known truly Russian face.

You should have listened to how they mocked the poor Finns. "That's foolish, so foolish. After all, such fools, the devil knows them! Why, if you count, I ate three rubles for seven hryvnias from them, from scoundrels ... Oh, you bastard! They don't beat them enough, sons of bitches. One word - Chukhons. And the other one picked it up, choking with laughter: "And I ... deliberately knocked a glass, and then took it into a fish and spat." - "So they need to be bastards! - Picked up his counterpart. - Dissolved anathemas! They need to be kept!"

Quoting these vulgar statements with anger and contempt, the author " Garnet bracelet" nevertheless concludes: "And it is all the more pleasant to confirm that in this nice, wide, semi-free country (meaning Finland. - Approx. ed.), they are already beginning to understand that not all of Russia consists of contractors from the Meshchovsky district, Kaluga province.

Let the reader not be confused by the mention of Finland. Until the beginning of the 19th century, being "under Sweden", this country absorbed many Swedish traditions, including the traditions of the buffet.

I can confirm that these traditions have been preserved in modern Sweden, as well as in Finland and Norway. To the credit of our compatriots, I have never seen such people abroad who would rush headlong to the table, filling the plates with everything indiscriminately. Apparently, the general atmosphere of integrity that reigns in the dining room has a beneficial effect on everyone in it. Is there a muffled exclamation from somewhere from the side: "That's beauty!" Or the surprised child will exclaim: "Daddy, can I take all this?!" "Yes, son, you can." -- "And ice cream, and pineapple, and kiwi?!" - the kid does not immediately believe ...

The honesty and law-abidingness, rooted in the Swedes, which became a national character trait, also made a great impression on the Russian people. The famous Russian writer Thaddeus Bulgarin, who visited Sweden in the late 1830s, wrote: “All travelers agree about Swedish honesty, good nature and hospitality. In all Sweden, the traveler is perfectly safe, and there is no example of a wanderer being killed or robbed, despite the fact that, traveling in Sweden, one must pass through forests, ravines and generally sparsely populated places. ".

And how is the situation in this regard now, in our days? Unfortunately, such a rosy picture when describing modern Sweden will not work. Bacilli of theft, rudeness have also leaked into this once absolutely well-bred and well-organized country, manifestations of violence against a person are not uncommon, and murders happen. Perhaps these are the costs of Sweden's openness to the outside world, which "bestowed" them with these vices of "civilization." And yet, even with this in mind, it should be recognized that against the background of most other countries, Sweden looks better.

The observations of the poet Vasily Zhukovsky, who visited Sweden as part of the retinue of the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexander, are also very relevant for modern Russia. The attention of the poet, who was deeply interested in politics and the problems of state building, was attracted, in particular, by the constitution in force in Sweden. “The disadvantages of the local constitution,” Zhukovsky wrote, “... consist in the fact that corrections are taking place too slowly ... But this slowness ... is counterbalanced by the firmness of the established order. It is impossible for a momentary need to sacrifice the future of the state.”

If we look from the current positions at what attracted the attention of the poet, it should be noted that in modern Sweden any constitutional law, that is, a law aimed at changing the constitution, is considered approved only after its second adoption and the new Riksdag.

“Any law in Sweden,” writes Olga Chernysheva, who knows this problem well, “has long been adopted only after a long and comprehensive discussion, reflection, miscalculation of all its consequences. Moreover, this discussion is conducted not only in the country's highest legislative body, but also in the press , on television, that is, with the participation of the whole society. All this creates among the people confidence in the law, confidence that the law provides for the optimal solution to any issue. It was the law that made the Swedes honest, its violation caused the greatest indignation of the Swedes at all times ... This legitimacy and obedience to the law is, in fact, the core of modern Swedish society."

This is also the source of the high political activity of the Swedes, who are well aware that their personal position determines how things will develop in the state.

This feature of the Swedes was very accurately noticed almost a century and a half ago by Sofia Kovalevskaya. The first female professor of mathematics at the Stockholm Institute of Technology, she contributed to the high level of emancipation that exists in this country today. “Like all people with a happy past,” wrote Kovalevskaya, “the Swedes are conservative by their very nature. Any new proposal is usually met with some preconceived distrust ... It is more difficult for a Swede to change his views, to be convinced of the inconsistency of a once-learned worldview than for Russians. .. But once convinced of the need for change, the Swedes do not stop halfway, do not reassure themselves with their non-participation in the common cause, but, on the contrary, consider themselves morally obliged to express in practice the change in their views.

Many interesting observations and reflections on the nature of the Swedish character are also contained in the travel notes of Evgeny Markov, who traveled around Sweden at the very end of the 19th century. He notes not only the honesty of the Swedes and their respect for the laws, but also tries to find an explanation for this. “Everywhere you meet people well-dressed, healthy, handsome, full of self-esteem ... The local people have more than one appearance, however. what he will charge you for his work."

Among the many facts and thoughts contained in the book, which we leafed through together, I would single out what I consider the key: it was the Law that made the Swedes honest. If we, Russians, will just as scrupulously obey the laws and live by them, then we will not avoid a good life.