The banquets held in rural areas are not very hygienic. Is this really the case?

Our family lives in a rural area, and every banquet is held in our courtyard. The most recent banquet was held for my father-in-law’s birthday. It was held on January 18, 2020, although it was a few days earlier than his birthday. However, we have a habit of holding banquets in rural areas, that is, try to arrange the banquets in advance every Saturday or Sunday, so that relatives and friends in the city can come over when they are free.

Speaking of which, we are quite lucky. First of all, we held the banquet before the nationwide home quarantine was implemented, and we did not stop hosting it because of this. Then there is the person who attended the banquet at that time. No one had direct or indirect contact with people from Wuhan. Because of this, we all called to inquire. If someone gets infected because we held a banquet, then our family will definitely blame ourselves.

The banquet size our family chose was 150 yuan per table, and it was the type with stools and backrests. Our banquets here also have different stools. Generally, stools with backrests are about 10 yuan more expensive per table than stools without backrests. If the relationship is relatively good, some only charge 5 yuan per table.

Actually, 150 yuan is just the hourly fee charged by our rural cooks. The big cook prepares the dishes for the night before and for lunch the next day, while the little cook prepares the dishes for the next morning and evening. As for the dishes we have here, after we choose them ourselves, the chef will write a shopping list for us, and then let us buy everything by ourselves. In order to buy these vegetables, we went to the farmers' wholesale market in the nearby city at around 2 o'clock the morning before to buy them.

And I only bought some vegetables and meat that day, and some seafood, etc., which need to be picked up the next morning. Because these are fresh seafood, if we take them back in advance, we may not be able to keep them overnight. It can be said that all the dishes at our banquet are fresh vegetables and meat. If compared with the ingredients in city hotels, I believe our ingredients are much better than those in hotels. And in the end, the average cost per table did not exceed 600 yuan. If it is the same specification, it will cost at least 2,000 yuan per table in a hotel. Moreover, the quantity in the hotel is not sufficient, and the ingredients are not fresh.

So why do some people say that the banquets in our rural areas are unhygienic? In fact, maybe they have never really eaten our rural banquet. I just saw pictures of rural banquets on some Internet, and then I said that our rural banquets are unhygienic.

I admit that our rural banquets also have a shortcoming, that is, there may be more flies. After all, our rural banquets are all open, unlike city hotels where they are held in the lobby. But we also thought of this when we held the banquet. Therefore, try not to serve the dishes before people are on the table, gather the dishes in one place, and then have someone specialize in driving away the flies. For some cold dishes, we will also use an electric fan to blow the flies directly.

Except for the only shortcoming above, I think the banquets held in our rural areas are much more hygienic than most hotels. For example, when cleaning tableware, we can see with our own eyes the ladies who clean the tableware. After washing them with detergent, they will then soak them in clean water multiple times. Although the tableware in city hotels is said to be cleaned, washed and disinfected once, it is all done in the back kitchen. Maybe it is just a simple wash in water and that's it. Anyway, no guests come into the kitchen to check, and they usually have to pay attention to efficiency.

In addition to washing tableware, that is washing various vegetables. There is no doubt about this. Many hotels can do this by simply crossing the water. In our rural areas, if you don't clean it carefully, there will always be an owner watching over it, and sometimes we will even help clean it. The last thing is the freshness of vegetables and various meats. This is definitely a win for our rural banquet. After all, they are all purchased by themselves, and all kinds of meat and seafood are carefully selected. Hotels cannot be compared at all.

Through the above explanation, I believe everyone is no longer so unfamiliar with our rural banquets, so please stop saying that our rural banquets are unhygienic. Except for a little more flies, you can't find anything wrong with it!