A dish in gastronomy is a specific food preparation, a "distinct article or variety of food,"[1] with cooking finished, and ready to eat, or be served.
A dish may be served on tableware, or may be eaten out of hand; but breads are generally not called dishes.
Instructions for preparing a dish are called recipes. Some dishes, for example vanilla ice cream with fudge sauce, rarely have their own recipes (and are not found in most cookbooks), as they are made by simply combining two ready to eat preparations of foods.
