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1. Pre-reading
Discuss the questions with your friends.
2. Reading
Offering the right varieties, combinations, and preparations of foods is a basic requirement for a restaurant's commercial success, but what will work for each restaurant differs from case to case. The reading selection below gives you a basic insight of a menu composition.
A successful menu depends upon composition-the right combination of foods, prepared perfectly. So claimed Antonin Careme (1784-1833), the French chef who is considered the founder of classical cuisine. A table d'hote or a part menu is a predetermined succession of courses, offered at a set price. Today the a la carte menu, from which guests choose from a variety of courses and foods at different prices, is also popular.
The classical French menu contains thirteen courses. Today, a menu of this size is hardly ever offered. But even today's shorter menus follow the structure of the classical French menus as far as succession of courses is concerned. They always start with something light to stimulate the appetite, build up to the main course, and then become lighter toward the end of the meal.
The Thirteen Courses of the Classic Menu for French Cuisine
| Course | English | Example |
| 1. | Cold appetizer | Melon with port |
| 2. | Soup | Consomme brunoise |
| 3. | Hot appetizer | Morels on toast |
| 4. | Fish | Fillet of sole Joinville |
| 5. | Main course | Saddle of Iamb |
| 6. | Intermediate course | Sweetbreads with apparagus |
| 7. | Sorbet | Champagne sorbet |
| 8. | Roast with salad | Guinea hen stuffed with goose liver, salad |
| 9. | Cold roast | Game terrine |
| 10. | Vegetable | Braised lettuce with peas |
| 11. | Sweet | Charlotte russe |
| 12. | Savory | Cheese fritter |
| 13. | Dessert | Jellied fruit |
The following examples of five-course, four-course, and three-course menus illustrate that even today's short menus follow the same sequence based on the classical thirteen-course French menu. The individual courses, however, have been merged in many cases. The original main course consisted of an entire, uncarved poultry, meat, or game animal - a whole prime rib of beef, for example. Today the entree has merged with the main course. The vegetable, at one time a separate course, today is served as a side dish with the main course. Cold appetizers are always served before the soup. Hot appetizers are served after the soup.
4-course Menu
| Course | Examples |
| Cold appetizer | Melon with port |
| Soup | - |
| Warm appetizer | Fillet of sole JoinvilleSteamed rice |
| Main course | Chicken breast with trufflesSteamed riceBraised lettuce with bacon |
| Dessert | Hazelnut cream |
4-course Menu
| Course | Examples |
| Cold appetizer | - |
| Soup | Consomme with marrow |
| Warm appetizer | Gnocchi, Parisian style |
| Main course | Roast PheasantWilliamspotatoes Red cabbage with chestnuts |
| Dessert | Peach Melba |
In many cases, especially in restaurants serving haute cuisine, the a part or table d'hote menu is beautifully handwritten to emphasize the traditional character of the restaurant. In less fancy restaurants, a modern variant that is similar but simpler is often used: the blackboard, on which are written recommendations concerning the day's specialties.
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