At the table of Median and Persian kings, the meal was not divided into starter-main-dessert. Herodotus (Histories, I, 133) marvels: the Persians serve few main dishes at once, but then parade, course after course, a multitude of small sweets, fruits, and delicacies — to the point that they find the Greeks ridiculous for leaving the table still hungry. The meal opens with a great roasted dish or a cereal pottage, shared according to rank, then extends into a long procession of sweets, dates, nuts, and honeyed drinks. Daily, the household lives on barley, lentils, and flatbread; on feast days, roasted meat and Babylonian wine honor the guests.

The pistachio tree is native to the Persian plateau: its green fruits, roasted over fire, are a local treasure that the Greeks would discover much later. Along with pomegranate and saffron, the pistachio marks Achaemenid court cuisine — a plant-based luxury that colors and perfumes both roasts and sweets.