A main course is the featured or primary dish in a
meal
A meal is an occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The English names used for specific meals vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. A meal is different from a ...
consisting of several
courses. It usually follows the
entrée
An entrée (, ; ), in modern French table service and that of much of the English-speaking world, is a dish served before the main course of a meal. Outside North America and parts of English-speaking Canada, it is generally synonymous with th ...
() course.
Usage
In the United States and Canada (except
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
), the main course is traditionally called an "entrée".
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
Daniel Jurafsky is a professor of linguistics and computer science at Stanford University, and also an author. With Daniel Gildea, he is known for developing the first automatic system for semantic role labeling (SRL). He is the author of ''The Lan ...
, North American usage ("entrée") comes from the original French meaning of the first of many meat courses.
See also
*
Full course dinner
A full-course dinner in much of the Western world is a meal served in multiple courses. Since the 19th century, dinner has generally been served in the evening, but other times ranging from late morning to late afternoon have been historically ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Wikibooks Cookbook
Food and drink terminology
Courses (food)
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tl:Ulam