The Greek meal in Alexandria was not thought of in terms of starter-main-dessert but as two complementary poles: sitos (the cereal base — barley flatbread or wheat bread, which satisfies hunger) and opson (everything eaten "with" it: fish, vegetables, cheese, condiments, which provides flavor). The meal ends, especially at a banquet, with tragemata (honey sweets and dried fruits) accompanied by wine cut with water, sometimes during a symposion.

Fermented fish sauce, sold throughout the Mediterranean basin and ubiquitous on Alexandrian tables. A few drops suffice to bring that salty-umami depth that defines Greco-Roman cuisine, much as fish sauce defines Southeast Asian cuisines today.