“Little Dishes”: Nuts, Relishes, & Appetite Arousers

“Little Dishes” are the beginning, the grand and delightful overture, to a traditional Hunanese meal. They are little plates of goodies—nuts, relishes, pickles—meant to stimulate the appetite and arouse every taste bud to happy anticipation of the meal ahead. Like overtures of a musical sort, they should present a medley of colors and textures and rouse the eaters to a pleasurable attention. The Chinese character for “little dishes” looks much like the character for “butterflies,” and the right assortment of “Little Dishes” is indeed much like a field of butterflies—lively, glimmering with color, and a lighthearted thing.