In Arthurian tales, one does not "dine" at the Lady of the Lake's as at an inn: food there is offering and marvel. The medieval fairy meal unfolds in successive services, where dishes arrive all together on a white-clothed table, in a deliberate blend of sweet and savory. One begins with an offering placed at the water's edge (to honor the threshold between worlds), then comes the grand festive service around the lake fish, accompanied by a honey brew, and one ends with a healing brew, for the Lady is also a healer. No starter-main-dessert order: abundance and sharing prevail, in the manner of Celtic and Breton medieval banquets.

Honey from Breton forests (heather, chestnut, hawthorn) is the fairies' gold: it sweetens, preserves, ferments into mead, and heals wounds. With the living water from the spring, it is the world-ingredient of this table, where common folk often have only salt and barley.