Entrée
Encyclopedia
An entrée is a dish served before the main course, or between two principal courses of a meal.
The disappearance in the early 20th century of a large communal main course
such as a roast as a standard part of the meal in the English-speaking world has led to the term being used to describe the main course itself in some areas. This usage is largely confined to North America and use of the term would be considered unusual in British English, even though it is the first meaning given by some British dictionaries but not others.
The term entrée is rarely used for an hors d'oeuvre, also called a first course, appetizer, or starter.
In 1970, Richard Olney
, an American living in Paris, gave the place of the entrée in a French full menu: "A dinner that begins with a soup and runs through a fish course, an entrée, a sherbet, a roast, salad, cheese and dessert, and that may be accompanied by from three to six wines, presents a special problem of orchestration". In 1967 Julia Child
and her co-authors outlined the character of such entrées, which— when they did not precede a roast— might serve as the main course of a luncheon, in a chapter of "Entrées and Luncheon Dishes" that included quiche
s, tarts and gratin
s, soufflé
s and timbale
s, gnocchi
, quenelle
s and crepes.
Marie-Antoine Carême
explained for a French readership the order of courses in the state dinner à la russe
served for Tsar Alexander I's review of his troops in 1815, at an isolated location far from Paris, under trying circumstances:
In Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
, chapter 40, bills of fare for a grand dinner for eighteen, January 1887, follow two kinds of fish and two kinds of soup with four entrées: Ris de Veau, Poulet à la Marengo
, Côtelettes de Porc and a Ragoût of Lobster. Guests were not expected to eat of each dish, of course, for the entrées were followed by a Second Course and a Third Course, of game and fruit.
An entrée is more substantial than hors d'œuvres and better thought of as a half-sized version of a main course, and restaurant menus will sometimes offer the same dish in different-sized servings as both entrée and main course.
Entrée (or entree) is often used in the United States
and Canada
(except Quebec
) as the name of the main course
. English-speaking Québécois and Australians follow the French use of the term.
. It originally denoted the "entry" of the dishes from the kitchens into the dining hall. In the illustration from a French fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript
of the Histoire d'Olivier de Castille et d'Artus d'Algarbe, a fanfare
from trumpeters in the musicians' gallery announces the processional entrée of a series of dishes preceded by a covered cup that is the ancestor of the tureen
, carried by the maître d'hôtel
. The entrée will be shown round the hall but served only to the high table (though it does not stand on a dais
in this hall), where the guests are set apart by a gold-and-crimson damask canopy of estate.
In traditional French haute cuisine
, the entrée preceded a larger dish known as the relevé, which "replaces" or "relieves" it, an obsolete term in modern cooking, but still used as late as 1921 in Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire
.
In France, the modern restaurant menu meaning of "entrée" is the course that precedes the main course in a three course meal, i.e. the course which in British usage is often called the "starter" and in American usage the "appetizer." Thus a typical modern French three course meal in a restaurant consists of "entrée" (first course, starter (UK), appetizer (U.S.)) followed by the "plat" or "plat principal" (the main course) and then dessert or cheese. This procession is commonly found in prix fixe menus.
The disappearance in the early 20th century of a large communal main course
Main course
A main dish is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée course, and the salad course. In North American usage it may in fact be called the "entree"....
such as a roast as a standard part of the meal in the English-speaking world has led to the term being used to describe the main course itself in some areas. This usage is largely confined to North America and use of the term would be considered unusual in British English, even though it is the first meaning given by some British dictionaries but not others.
The term entrée is rarely used for an hors d'oeuvre, also called a first course, appetizer, or starter.
In 1970, Richard Olney
Richard Olney (food writer)
Richard Olney was an American painter, cook, food writer, editor, and memoirist, best known for his books of French country cooking....
, an American living in Paris, gave the place of the entrée in a French full menu: "A dinner that begins with a soup and runs through a fish course, an entrée, a sherbet, a roast, salad, cheese and dessert, and that may be accompanied by from three to six wines, presents a special problem of orchestration". In 1967 Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
and her co-authors outlined the character of such entrées, which— when they did not precede a roast— might serve as the main course of a luncheon, in a chapter of "Entrées and Luncheon Dishes" that included quiche
Quiche
Quiche is a savory, open-faced pie of vegetables, cheese, or meat in custard, baked in a pastry crust.The quiche is sometimes regarded as the savoury equivalent ofegg custard tart.- Etymology:...
s, tarts and gratin
Gratin
Gratin is a widespread culinary technique in food preparation in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg and/or butter. Gratin originated in French cuisine and is usually prepared in a shallow dish of some kind...
s, soufflé
Soufflé
A soufflé is a light baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert...
s and timbale
Timbale (food)
In cooking, timbale can refer to either a kind of pan used for baking, or the food that is cooked inside such a pan.Timbale pans can be large , or they can be small enough to be single-portion . Timbales typically narrow toward the bottom....
s, gnocchi
Gnocchi
Gnocchi are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg, and cheese, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. The smaller forms are called gnocchetti....
, quenelle
Quenelle
A quenelle is mixture of creamed fish, chicken, or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding. It can also be served vegetarian, or "nature". It is usually poached. Formerly, quenelles were often used as a garnish in haute cuisine; today, they are usually served on their own...
s and crepes.
Use
Marie-Antoine Carême
Marie Antoine Carême , known as the "King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings" was an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as haute cuisine, the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the newly rich of...
explained for a French readership the order of courses in the state dinner à la russe
Service à la russe
Service à la russe is a manner of dining that involves courses being brought to the table sequentially....
served for Tsar Alexander I's review of his troops in 1815, at an isolated location far from Paris, under trying circumstances:
Russian service is carried out rapidly and warmly; first, oysters are served; after the soupSoupSoup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
, hors d'oeuvres; then the large joint of meat; then the entrées of fish, fowl, game, meat, and the entremets of vegetables; then the roast meat with salad. The service ends with the desserts: jellies, creams and souffléSouffléA soufflé is a light baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert...
s.
In Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was a guide to all aspects of running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton. It was originally entitled "Beeton's Book of Household Management", in line with the other guide-books published by Beeton.Previously published as a part...
, chapter 40, bills of fare for a grand dinner for eighteen, January 1887, follow two kinds of fish and two kinds of soup with four entrées: Ris de Veau, Poulet à la Marengo
Chicken Marengo
Chicken Marengo is an Italian savoury dish, so named for being the dish that Napoléon Bonaparte ate after the Battle of Marengo.According to tradition Napoleon demanded a quick meal after the battle and his chef Dunand was forced to work with the meager results of a forage: a chicken , tomatoes,...
, Côtelettes de Porc and a Ragoût of Lobster. Guests were not expected to eat of each dish, of course, for the entrées were followed by a Second Course and a Third Course, of game and fruit.
An entrée is more substantial than hors d'œuvres and better thought of as a half-sized version of a main course, and restaurant menus will sometimes offer the same dish in different-sized servings as both entrée and main course.
Entrée (or entree) is often used in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(except Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) as the name of the main course
Main course
A main dish is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée course, and the salad course. In North American usage it may in fact be called the "entree"....
. English-speaking Québécois and Australians follow the French use of the term.
Origins
The word entrée is FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. It originally denoted the "entry" of the dishes from the kitchens into the dining hall. In the illustration from a French fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
of the Histoire d'Olivier de Castille et d'Artus d'Algarbe, a fanfare
Fanfare
A Fanfare is a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets and other brass instruments often accompanied by percussion...
from trumpeters in the musicians' gallery announces the processional entrée of a series of dishes preceded by a covered cup that is the ancestor of the tureen
Tureen
A tureen is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews, often shaped as a broad, deep, oval vessel with fixed handles and a low domed cover with a knob or handle. Over the centuries, tureens have appeared in many different forms, some round, rectangular, or made into fanciful shapes such as...
, carried by the maître d'hôtel
Maître d'hôtel
The maître d’hôtel in the original French language is literally the "master of the hotel". In a suitably staffed restaurant or hotel, it is the person in charge of assigning customers to tables and dividing the dining area into areas of responsibility for the various servers on duty. The plural...
. The entrée will be shown round the hall but served only to the high table (though it does not stand on a dais
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
in this hall), where the guests are set apart by a gold-and-crimson damask canopy of estate.
In traditional French haute cuisine
Haute cuisine
Haute cuisine or grande cuisine was characterised by French cuisine in elaborate preparations and presentations served in small and numerous courses that were produced by large and hierarchical staffs at the grand restaurants and hotels of Europe.The 17th century chef and writer La Varenne...
, the entrée preceded a larger dish known as the relevé, which "replaces" or "relieves" it, an obsolete term in modern cooking, but still used as late as 1921 in Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire
Le Guide Culinaire
Georges Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide culinaire, pronounced , is a pivotal book in the history of European haute cuisine, being Escoffier's largely successful attempt to codify and streamline the common French restaurant food of the day. The first edition was printed in 1903 in French. It was...
.
In France, the modern restaurant menu meaning of "entrée" is the course that precedes the main course in a three course meal, i.e. the course which in British usage is often called the "starter" and in American usage the "appetizer." Thus a typical modern French three course meal in a restaurant consists of "entrée" (first course, starter (UK), appetizer (U.S.)) followed by the "plat" or "plat principal" (the main course) and then dessert or cheese. This procession is commonly found in prix fixe menus.
See also
- Full course dinnerFull course dinnerA full course dinner is a dinner consisting of multiple dishes, or courses. In its simplest form, it can consist of three or four courses, such as soup, salad, meat and dessert.-Form:...
- Dish (food)Dish (food)A dish in gastronomy is a specific food preparation, a "distinct article or variety of food", with cooking finished, and ready to eat, or be served.A "dish" may be served on dishware, or may be eaten out of hand; but breads are generally not called "dishes"....
- Food presentationFood presentationFood Presentation is the art of modifying, processing, arranging, or decorating food to enhance its aesthetic appeal.The visual presentation of foods is often considered by chefs at many different stages of food preparation, from the manner of tying or sewing meats, to the type of cut used in...
- Garnish