Andreas Vesalius at the table

In the Habsburg Netherlands, the table of a wealthy scholar does not follow the starter-main-dessert grid. The meal opens with a simmered pottage or stew (hutsepot), the nourishing heart of the meal; then come roasts and pies for feast days, spiced with dried fruits; it closes with sweets of sugar and honey — quince preserves, waffles — accompanied by a spiced wine served hot. Sugar and sweet-and-sour mingle with savory without being separated as they are today, a legacy of the Middle Ages still vigorous in the 16th century.

In Vesalius's time, Antwerp was Europe's largest spice warehouse: cinnamon, ginger, saffron, cloves, and grains of paradise landed there by the shipload before spreading across the entire Brabant table. For a physician trained in medicine, these spices were also remedies: they "warmed" the stomach according to humoral theory. They appear, mild or pungent, in almost every dish of this meal.