Middle Eastern Dining Etiquette
International Dining Etiquette
Southwest Asia and the Asian Arab World for our purposes consists of the following macrocultural groups
The Gulf Arab cultures: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates.
The Levantine cultures: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel
As all of these countries are highly identified with Islam culturally, with the exception of Israel.
These links will take you to pages with dining etiquette information for the region. Where a particular country's dining etiquette dominates a region, those dining etiquette rules are incorporated by reference with a link to the page with the dominate dining etiquette.
Our resting utensils etiquette section covers the rules (american and continental) for resting your utensils when taking a break from eating, when you are finished eating, and when you are passing food [...]
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Table Manners
It's easy to impress at the dinner table! Just take a few minutes to read through our table manners section and you'll be the most sophisticated diner at the table.
Read MoreInternational Dining Etiquette
Visit our international dining etiquette section for more etiquette tips for your next trip overseas or hosting international guests!
Read MoreWine Tasting Etiquette
Once it is poured into the proper glass, it’s time to evaluate and enjoy the wine. Evaluating wine involves four basic steps – looking, swirling, smelling, and tasting.
- Step #1 – Look. Holding the wine glass up against a white background, such as a napkin or table cloth, to evaluate its color and clarity. Red wines should range in color from deep purple to brick red. White wines should range in color from lemon gold to golden amber.
- Step #2 – Swirl. Swirl the wine in your glass to aerate it.
- Step #3 – Smell. Put your nose in the glass and take a deep breath. Older wines should have subtler aromas than younger ones.
- Step #4 – Taste. To taste the wine, fill your mouth about ½ full and subtly swish the wine around.
Table Setting Etiquette
Helpful hints for setting the perfect table!
Visit our table setting section for information on:
- Formal table settings.
- Informal table settings.