Bathsheba at the table

Among the Israelites of David and Solomon's time, meals are not divided into starter-main-dessert: everything revolves around bread, which serves as both food and utensil. Bread is broken, dipped into stews, oil, and purées, and fruits and cheese are shared from common dishes set directly on the mat or low table. A blessing (berakha) opens and closes the meal. At the royal table in Jerusalem, abundance distinguishes the feast from ordinary days, but the structure remains the same: bread first, everything else around it.

Pressed in the olive presses of the Judean hills, olive oil is the soul of this cuisine: it binds stews, browns flatbreads, preserves food, and anoints kings. The same oil that flowed over Solomon's head at the Gihon Spring perfumes the queen mother's bread.