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Prosperous
Entertaining
Entertaining for
business success
Most business
entertaining will take
place in restaurants and
Turkish cuisine is one
of the finest in the
world. You may not get
the chance to act as
host, since Turkish
hospitality has a
reputation for
excellence, and your
colleagues may insist
upon doing [and paying
for] all of the
entertaining. When your
colleagues invite you to
a restaurant, you will
not be allowed to pay
for even part of the
meal.
Only when you issue
an invitation to a meal
will you be allowed to
pick up the tab--and
even then you may have
to resist your
colleague's efforts to
take the check.
In general,
restauarants in the
international hotels are
bland and humdrum
compared to the Turkish
restaurants.
Service in Turkish
restaurants is very
fast. Except in
international hotel
restaurants, Turks do
not usually order the
entire meal at once.
Instead they order one
course at a time,
deciding what to eat
next only after
finishing the last
course.
Turks use the same
eating utensils
Americans and Europeans
use. The 'continental'
style of dining is a
must: the fork is held
in the left hand the
knife in the right. The
knife is used for
cutting and to push food
onto the fork.
Turks usually smoke
between courses.
A toothpick is
usually offered at the
end of the meal. You may
use it at the table, but
ensure that you to cover
your mouth with your
hand.
Tea is the national
drink. A concentrated
tea is poured into
small, tulip-shaped
glasses [the glass is
held by the rim to avoid
burning the fingers],
and the water is added
to dilute the tea to
taste. Sugar may be
added to tea, but never
milk. As the glasses are
small, you will probably
go through plenty of
them during a meeting.
Outdoor tea gardens are
common, and quite
pleasant.
Turkish coffee is
strong, and best enjoyed
as an after dinner
drink. Each cup is
brewed individually, and
the sugar is added at
the time of the brewing,
so you must indicate
whether you want it
plain or with little,
medium, or lots of sugar
. It's a mistake to
drain the cup, since
there will be coffee
grounds at the bottom.
Milk is not usually
added to Turkish coffee
but is generally offered
with instant coffee or
the less concentrated
American/European-style
coffee.
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