main course

{{Short description|Phase of a meal}}

{{About|the meal component|the Bee Gees album|Main Course}}

{{Meals}}

A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée ({{literally|entry}}) course.

Usage

In the United States and Canada (except Quebec), the main course is traditionally called an "entrée".{{cite dictionary|url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/entree_1|encyclopedia=Cambridge Dictionary|entry=entrée|title=ENTRÉE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TL8PFlYRkUC&q=entree+main+course&pg=PA99 | title=Commonsense Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious, Simple Manners for the Twenty-First Century | year=1999 | author=Stewart, Marjabelle Young and Elizabeth Lawrence | publisher=St. Martin's Press | page=99| isbn=9780312242947 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-22/sure-you-are-what-you-eatbut-youre-also-how-you-translate-menu|title=You are what you eat — and how you translate the menu|date=22 September 2014 |access-date=12 September 2017}} English-speaking Québécois follow the modern French use of the term entrée to refer to a dish served before the main course.

According to linguist Dan Jurafsky, North American usage ("entrée") comes from the original French meaning of the first of many meat courses.{{Cite web |last=Porzucki |first=Nina |date=22 September 2014 |title=You are what you eat—and how you translate the menu |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2014-09-22/sure-you-are-what-you-eatbut-youre-also-how-you-translate-menu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513033144/https://theworld.org/stories/2014-09-22/sure-you-are-what-you-eatbut-youre-also-how-you-translate-menu |archive-date=13 May 2023 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=The World from PRX |language=en}}

See also

{{Portal|Food}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |title=The Main Course |last=Vergé |first=Roger |year=1996 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-297-83638-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7L2GwAACAAJ&q=main+course |access-date=May 25, 2017}}