 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Main course" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Part of a series on |
| Meals |
|---|
 |
| Meals |
| Components andcourses |
| Related concepts |
Amain course is the featured or primary dish in ameal consisting of severalcourses. The nature of what qualifies as a main course, and how and when it is served, varies cross-culturally. In the "Classical Order" ofservice à la française, the main course generally follows theentrée (lit. 'entry') course.
In the United States and some parts of Canada the main course is traditionally called an "entrée".[1][2][3] The modern French use of the term entrée refers to adish served before the main course.
According to linguistDan Jurafsky, North American usage ("entrée") comes from the original French meaning of the first of many meat courses.[3] The first written use of the term 'entree' was in Petit traicté, which was published by Pierre Sargent in Paris between 1534 and 1536. In this book, the first course of the whole meal was named 'entree de table'.
| Common meals | |
|---|---|
| Components andcourses | |
| Table service | |
| Presentation | |
| Dining | |
| Regional styles | |
| Packed | |
| Menus and meal deals | |
| Communal meals | |
| Catering and food delivery | |
| Places to eat | |
| Related | |
