In Mary Douglas's "Deciphering a Meal", she proposes the western meal as a 1a + 2b formula, which would be one main dish and two side dishes. For example, a western "meal" would be steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus. However, Koreans rarely eat in the 1a+2b forumula; rather, Koreans eat rice, soup, a main dish or two, and 4-15 side dishes. There is a focus on eating collectively, sharing the food on the table and crossing lines to grab from one side dish or the other. The perfect Korean meal is made up of a unity of disparate parts.