In fifteenth-century Florence, a workshop master's midday meal revolves around bread, the true pillar of the table. It begins with a *minestra* (soup or thick porridge of vegetables and legumes), followed by the *companatico*, what "accompanies the bread": a boiled or roast meat on meat days. Sweets and dried fruits (*confetti*, *dolci*) close the feast, and a spiced wine is often served to aid digestion. Artisans also snacked on humble flour flatbreads between tasks.

Two hallmarks of Florence meet at this table: the slow ember, inherited from the furnaces where bronze is cast, and black pepper, a costly spice that Venetian galleys unload and the opulent city scatters without counting. The master founder knows better than anyone the patience of covered fire.