a plate lands with ten things on it: bread, meat, rice, salad, fruit, a dessert. several different brachos are represented. which food gets the bracha first, and does the order even matter?

1. is there a halachic order of brachos, hamotzi before mezonos before ha’eitz and so on, or can a person bless on whatever he picks up first?

2. the torah praises eretz yisrael with the seven species, “wheat and barley, vines, figs and pomegranates, olive trees and honey” (devarim 8:8). does that list create an order among foods, so an olive beats a date? and what happens when the plate has both a seven species food and a higher bracha food?

3. bread covers the meal: once ha’motzi is said, most foods need no bracha at all. so is the real rule just bread first always, and the order question only exists in a breadless snack plate?

4. and practically: a kiddush with cake, herring, fruit, and drinks. what gets blessed first, and in what order?

bottom line: when many kinds of food are in front of a person, which one gets the first bracha, and why?