Among the Macedonians, the evening meal (deipnon) precedes the banquet (symposion) where drinking takes place while reclining on couches (klinai). At the court of Aigai and Pella, roasted meats and breads are eaten first, then comes the time for drinking, libations to the gods, and songs. Daily life revolves around maza (barley cake), goat cheese, and olives; the royal feast, however, displays hunted game, a mark of Macedonian aristocratic rank, more carnivorous and more watered with wine than the frugal table of the southern cities.

The Macedonian nobility distinguished itself by its passion for hunting and its way of drinking wine almost neat, whereas the southern Greeks diluted it heavily with water. Wild boar, deer, and hare roasted on the spit, honey from Bermion, and wine from the Thracian countryside form the taste of this warrior court.