Before or After the entree.
In a typical 7 course meal it is served before the Meat Entree. In a classical 7 course meal it was served AFTER the Meat Entree. In restaurant service it is usually served after the appetizer, and/or soup. The most common mistake is the serving order of a 7 course meal, however most people won't mind or even know the proper service order, which is as follows.
aperatif or cocktail
1st course Appetizer(hot or cold)
2nd course Soup (served with an appropriate wine)
3rd course Fish (served with a white wine)
4th course Palate cleanser (something acidic, no more than a mouthful, fruit maybe)
5th course Entree (usually a meat dish, with a hot vegetable)(served with a dry red or rose wine)
6th course Salad or cold vegetable (if cream dressings are used provide a dry bread or cracker before serving dessert, to cleanse the palate)
***6 1/2 course (cheese course) to cleanse the palate before dessert
7th course Dessert (often served with a cordial)
*Bread should be available from soup to salad and changing breads with each course isn't unusual
** the salad course is often expected by some after the soup as it would be in restaurant service, this is not proper and should never be served before the fish course.
***a cheese course is not traditional but often added after the 6th or 7th course
There does exist differences of opinion of how these courses should be served, and whether beverages should be changed with each course.
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