At the papal table, the meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert but alternates between the *servizio di credenza* (cold dishes arranged on the buffet: cured meats, fruits, confections, pastries) and the *servizio di cucina* (hot dishes from the kitchens: soups, roasts, pies). Above all, everything follows the liturgical calendar: *giorni di grasso* (fat days) allow meat and animal fats, while *giorni di magro* (lean days, Fridays, Lent, and vigils) require fish, vegetables, almond milk, and oil. A single meal often blends sweet and savory, a sign of refinement.

The cuisine of the great Italian houses of the 16th century, codified by Bartolomeo Scappi (cook to the popes), liked to season fish, pies, and drinks with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, and clove, enhanced with sugar and colored with saffron. This spiced sweetness, inherited from the Middle Ages, marked prestige: sugar and spices were expensive and signaled the table of a prince of the Church.