At the Tudor court, the main meal unfolded in two services ("first course," "second course") of roasted meats, pottages, and pies, all placed together on the table to be shared by "messes" of four diners. Then came the social highlight: the banquet, a separate course—often in a dedicated room or gallery—composed entirely of sugar sweets, preserves, spiced wines, and sculpted subtleties, where wealth was displayed as much as gluttony.

A prestige import bought at a king's ransom, sugar is the ostentatious signature of the Elizabethan era: sculpted into "subtleties," melted into marchpane, wine, and preserves. Elizabeth was so fond of it that her teeth were reportedly blackened—a luxury flaunted without restraint.