Hors d’oeuvre — literally “outside the main work” — is the small, appetising course served before a meal to awaken the appetite: the French foundation of the starter. Served hot or cold, a hors d’oeuvre is deliberately light and piquant — marinated vegetables, smoked fish, pâté, oysters, delicate salads — designed to stimulate rather than satisfy. In classical French service it precedes the soup or fish course; in modern usage it often denotes the array of small bites, canapés, and crudities offered with drinks. The plural, hors d’oeuvre, never takes an English “s.” Presentation matters enormously: these first tastes set the meal’s tone, and a sloppy hors d’oeuvre promises a sloppy dinner.