Setting
Where is a banquet usually held in the US?
In a large dining hall.
In the old days, what were two events when people held a ban-doh banquet to celebrate?
A wedding or an elder's birthday.
What does the term " tsui-kha" mean at a ban-doh banquet?
It means "banquet helper."
4:30
Where is a traditional Taiwanese roadside banquet usually held?
on the street or under a tent
In the old days, who would prepare all the ingredients for the meal?
The host.
What do guests do at the end of the banquet?
They pack up the leftovers in bags and take them home.
What is a necessary decoration on the table?
What's the seating arrangement for guests at a ban-doh banquet?
Guests sit at big round tables with around 10 guests at each table.
In the old days, how did the host's neighbors help when a ban-doh banquet was held?
In the old days, what did the hosts also hand out to the guests to ensure they could see in the dark on their way home?
Torches.
In the old days, what was the ban-doh all about?
Where do catering chefs and their assistants prepare the food at a ban-doh banquet?
At one end of the temporary tent.
Nowadays, what are other occasions when a ban-doh banquet is held?
Religious festivals or temple celebrations, funeral banquets, year-end banquets, spring feasts, lunar New Year celebrations, housewarmings, a newborn's one-month birthday.
Guests don't need torches anymore. Catering chefs prepare the ingredients, provide tables and chairs, and hire assistants on their own.
Cocktail parties/receptions, banquets at grand ballrooms, and buffets.
What is a big disadvantage of the open-air setting for a ban-doh banquet?
There can be flies.
When did this custom come into existence?
It originated in the Chin Dynasty.
Name some typical dishes that often show up in a ban-doh banquet.
Buddha jumps over the wall (aka Buddha's Temptation), steamed fish, sticky rice with crab (aka steams glutinous rice with mud crab), poached chicken with dipping sauce, lobster with Taiwanese mayonnaise, marinated jellyfish salad, abalone, fried glutinous rice balls, fried taro paste balls, assorted fruit platter, pork ribs or lamb chops, seafood platter as appetizers, squid with dried mullet roe, garlic flavored squid with conch soup.
What's your favorite type of banquet and why?
Answers may differ.