Absyrtos at the table

Among the Colchians, a people dwelling along the Phasis River and the Black Sea, the meal revolves around a millet porridge—the nourishing staple for all, from labourer to prince—enriched with river fish or forest game. At the palace of Aia, the royal feast adds roasted meats, nuts, honey from the Caucasus mountains, and wine served in golden cups. Fresh or dried fruits and honey cakes close the meal or feed the gods and the dead.

Colchis was renowned for its walnut forests (the Greek word 'Persian nut' hints at an eastern kinship) and its mountain honey. These two treasures—one oily, one sweet—define the cuisine of this land at the edge of the Greek world, where Medea the sorceress and her brother Absyrtus grew up.