MIRPUR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (MUST), MIRPUR

DEPARMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Department of Home Economics
Foundation-II Meal Management
COURSE CODE: HEM-246
Session: (2018-22)
Semester: BS 4th Spring, 2020.

Lecture [08] : Meal Course.

Ms. Nazish Zulfiqar.

(BPS-18)

Date: May, 4, 2020

 LEARNING OBECTIVES

• To learn and understand meal courses.

• To develop skills to plan appropriate meals matching the nutritional
needs of the family using available resources.

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 Meal Course
What Is a Meal Course?
A meal course is a single food item or a set of food items served at once, such as a sandwich, soup and
crackers, or steak and mashed potatoes. An average meal consists of one or more meal courses.

How Many Courses Are in a Meal?

Many meals only contain one course. The most basic full course meal is made up of 2 or 3 of the following
courses: an appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert. However, meals can feature up to 12 or more courses.

What Is a Full Course Meal?

A full course dinner is a meal featuring multiple courses. The basic full course meal consists of three or four
courses. Full course meals normally begin with precursors to a main dish, such as an amuse-bouche or soup,
followed by the main course(s), and they are finished off with sweets, coffee, and tea.
Full course meals frequently take place at someone’s home, at a venue, or at a restaurant. They are
customarily enjoyed in the afternoon or evening for a special occasion. In both upscale restaurants and
casual eateries, guests can opt for a full course meal by ordering multiple dishes to come out at separate
times.

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 How to serve a full Course Meal

A full-course meal is a meal that serves more than three courses. These meals are
usually extravagant events in honor of someone or a particular event. To host
your own full course meal, begin by planning your menu in advance. Decide how
many courses you’d like to serve and what they will be. Next, set the table before
you begin cooking. This will save you time and allow you to relax with your guests
before the meal is served. Finally, begin serving each course. Clear away dirty
plates before serving a new course and make sure your guests have full water
goblets and wine glasses.

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 Part 1: Getting Start

1. Plan your menu in advance. 

•Multiple course dinners take a lot of time to cook. If you plan
ahead, you will leave yourself plenty of time to cook every
course.

•When creating your menu, choose one or two items that will
be prepared fresh and cook the others in advance.

•Soups, pasta sauces, gravies, and bread can be cooked and

stored the day before the meal.

•Choose recipes that use different cooking equipment. For

example, if all of your recipes are made in the oven, you may
run out of time to cook everything.

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 Part 1: Getting Start

2. Set the table before you start cooking. 

• This will give you lots of time to prepare the food without feeling rushed
when your guests arrive. The way you set your table will depend on how
many courses you planned. For example: Set down a placemat and a
charger plate at every chair. The charger plate will stay in place until the
dessert course is served.
• Place the dessert utensils horizontally above the charger plate.
• Set the utensils in the order they will be used. Silverware that will be used
first goes on the outside, and those that will be used last are next to the
plate.
• Goblets and wine glasses are set near the top-right corner of the placemat.
• Desserts plates and coffee cups are usually brought in after the other
courses are finished.

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 Part 1: Getting Start

3. Keep prepared food at the right temperature.

• Cold dishes such as salads or gazpachos can be covered in plastic wrap and
stored in your refrigerator.
• Warm dishes can be covered with foil and placed in the oven to stay warm.
•Make sure your oven is set to the lowest temperature.Most ovens have a
“warm” setting. This setting will keep your food warm without burning it.

4. Consider hiring help.

• Catering a full meal can be expensive. However, if you hire someone else to
cook, clean, and serve the meal, you will be able to enjoy your evening with
your guests instead of slaving in the kitchen.
•If you can’t afford to hire full service catering, ask local catering companies
if they have service-only packages. You will cook the food but waiters will
come to your house and serve the meal.
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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses
1. Decide how many courses you want to serve. 
A full course meal can have anywhere from three to twenty courses. However, most modern hosts and hostesses
limit themselves to six courses. If you do too many, you might not have time to prepare everything properly or
spend time with your guests. Remember that each course will require its own plate or bowl and silverware. Make
sure you have enough of each to serve your courses

•.A three-course meal usually has an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert.

•A four course meal might include a soup, an appetizer, a main course, and dessert.

•A five course meal can include a soup, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, and a dessert.

•A six course meal usually includes an amuse-bouche, a soup, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, and a dessert.

•A seven course meal includes an amuse-bouche, a soup, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, a dessert, and a
cracker with coffee or tea.

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

2. Serve an amuse-bouche. (a french term refer to

pre-appetizer)

This course is usually presented before the soup or appetizer and

is served on small appetizer plates. These dishes consist of one or
two savory bites of food that can give a hint of flavors to come.
 Popular amuse-bouche dishes include: Creamy deviled eggs
Herb-infused cream cheese spread onto a slice of toasted crostini
Slices of roasted peaches on small wedges of creamy brie .

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

3. Present the soup course. 

This course is usually served before the appetizer or in place of

an appetizer. This dish is served in a small soup bowl and eaten
with a rounded soup spoon. Your soup choice may vary by
season.
For example:
•In the summer, consider serving a cold gazpacho soup, chicken
corn soup.
•In the winter, serve a warm, Hot & Sour Soup, creamy 
lobster bisque.

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

4. Distribute the appetizer. 

This course is referred to as the entrée in many parts of Europe as
it introduces the main courses in a meal.
These dishes are usually served on small appetizer plates and
feature small cuts of meat, seasonal vegetables, starches, and
sauces.
 For example:
Serve a few pieces of Garlic Rusk with a side of marinara sauce.
Bake Mushrooms stuffed with breadcrumbs and seasoning.
Give your guests a few miniature crab cakes with tartar sauce.

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

5. Serve the salad course. 

In some parts of Europe, the salad course is served after the
main course. However, it is becoming more and more common
to serve the salad first.
 Salad courses usually feature seasonal vegetables with a
flavorful dressing.
Common choices include: Fresh, simple garden salads with
lettuce, tomatoes, onions, Tangy Greek salads with olives,
lettuce, red onions, and feta cheese
A sweet and sour Southeast Asian papaya salad

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

6. Present the main course. 

The main course is served on a dinner plate. This course is
usually a combination of baked, fried, or roasted protein with a
seasonal vegetable side dish and bread.
 If you serve bread, make sure to provide a bread dish and
butter knife in the top-left corner of the placemat.
Main courses include:
•Hearty pasta dishes topped with chicken, fish, or veal cutlets
•Barbeque items for Example chicken roast, seekh kebab,
mallaayee boti, tikka boti etc.
•Meat or Fish Curry.
•Rice Dish.

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 Part 2: Choosing the Courses

7. Serve the dessert. 

The dessert course is served on a small appetizer plate with a
dedicated dessert spoon or fork. This course usually consists of a
slice of cake, pie, or other sweet dish.
Serve a small slice of velvety chocolate cake. 
Give your guests a qehwa, lemonade, mint migrata etc..

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 Part 3: Serving the Courses
1. Clear each plate away before serving
another. 
• Once all of the guests are finished eating, gather up the dirty
dishes, leaving the charger and any unused silverware. Serve
the next course immediately by placing the prepared dish
directly onto the charger. Plan for a little bit of prep time in the
kitchen between courses to arrange the food on the plates.
• The charger stays on the table until dessert is served.
2. Consider how drinks will be served. 
• When serving a full course meal, most hosts or hostesses provide
goblets of water. If you have room, consider serving drinks
family-style by placing pitchers of water and soft drinks on the
table, allowing the guests to serve themselves. This will save you
time and let you relax during each course. If you don’t want

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 Part 3: Serving the Courses

•If you have hired wait staff, they will refill the guests’ drinks for you.

3. Clear all of the dishes before dessert. 

•Once the dessert course is ready, clear away any bread plates, main
course plates, silverware, and the charger. Leave the dessert silverware
at the top of the placemat on the table. This will give your guests room
to stretch out while they enjoy dessert and digest their meal.

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References
• Nora Narvaez-Soriano; (2004). A guide to Meal Management and Table Service,
(3rd Ed); Rex Book Store Inc.
https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=FvXyHyOX8X8C&printsec=frontcover#v=o
nepage&q&f=false
• Margaret McWilliams; (2009) Fundamentals of Meal Management, (5th Ed);
Pearson Education Inc.
https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=CPRmoe2B5ZYC&pg=PP1&source=kp_rea
d_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
• Kinder, F., Green, N.R. (1984). Meal Management, (5th Ed), MacMillan Publishing
Co., Inc.
• https://www.wikihow.com/Serve-a-Full-Course-Meal

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THANKS