An amuse bouche, which translates to "to please the mouth," is a tempting appetizer that a chef usually supplies for free at the beginning of the meal. Different from hors d'oeuvres, the amuse bouche is the greeting of a chef, an acknowledgement of your patronage, and also a way for the chef to show restaurant diners just how creative he or she can be. The alternate expression amuse gueule is often avoided because gueule translates to specifically an animal’s mouth.

The amuse bouche is typically bite sized, small enough to pop in the mouth, but interesting enough to prepare the palate for the rest of the meal. One will typically find chefs serving an amuse bouche in finer restaurants, especially those that offer pre-fixed meals or meals of several courses. This tiny tidbit can vary considerably.

Some of the more adventurous chefs start meals with an amuse bouche that is served in a tiny cup or spoon. One could have a small spoon of a delicious soup, a salmon mousse, or a demitasse of mint sorbet. Presentation is a valuable part of the amuse bouche, and so numerous ideas are used for keeping presentation beautiful and thought provoking. As well as spoons or cups, some chefs use the larger Chinese spoon, skewers, or even easy to handle fruit or vegetable slices as the base for a mousse or topping. A baby potato, or a homemade cracker or crouton might also easily inspire an amuse bouche.

For cooking at home, one can construct appetizers based on the principal of the amuse bouche. Any type of appetizer that requires one bite only qualifies. However, if you choose to call an appetizer an amuse bouche it should be plated singly and served formally, instead of being presented on a tray. Serving an amuse bouche on a tray transforms it into an hors d’oeuvre or appetizer.

If you look on the Internet, and in cookbooks, you will find numerous wonderful ideas for an amuse bouche. Alternately, start experimenting with different taste combinations to see how you can delight your friends with new discoveries. Don’t forget items like sushi pieces and dim sum as possible amuse bouche candidates. These can be very popular and memorable beginnings to meals.