In the 18th century, the French meal unfolded in several "services" where all dishes of a given course arrived together on the table: potages, entrées, roasts, entremets, and dessert. But the life of a churchman like Abbé Prévost was governed by the liturgical calendar: "fat" days (meat allowed) and "lean" days (Lent, Fridays, vigils) when one stuck to fish, eggs, vegetables, and dairy. This double clock—worldly and religious—structured what was brought to his table.

An acidic juice pressed from unripe grapes, verjuice was the reigning sour note in French cuisine of the Ancien Régime, before lemon and vinegar supplanted it. It lifts fish sauces and potages with a sharp edge without masking flavors: the gustatory signature of Prévost's table.