At the table of European lords (12th–15th c.), the meal unfolds in several "courses" (or "dishes") brought in turn, each mixing roasts, soups and pies. Between two courses appear the "entremets" or "sotelties": spectacular pieces, often gilded, sometimes monstrous, made to astonish and amuse as much as to feed. Alongside this noble table live popular customs: everyday eggs, herbal remedies against poisons, and spiced wines closing the feasts. The cockatrice, a creature from bestiaries, haunts precisely this imagination of terrifying entremets and protections against poison.

Key medieval technique: brushing meats, eggs or pastries with a mixture of egg yolk and diluted saffron to make them shine with a brilliant gold during cooking. Prestige dishes were thus "gilded" — and the more monstrous and golden a banquet beast appeared, the more it evoked fabulous creatures like the cockatrice or basilisk.