At the court of the Catholic Monarchs, the meal was not divided into starter-main-dessert but into successive services (servicios) where manjares — savory and sweet dishes — arrived together on the table, carried by the carvers. The liturgical calendar governed everything: meat days (fat days) and fish days (lean days) alternated strictly. Manjar blanco, a prestige dish, signaled great occasions, while olla nourished daily life and spiced wine closed the feast.

Castilian saffron (the red gold of La Mancha) colors and perfumes prestige dishes, while almond milk, inherited from al-Andalus cuisine, replaced animal milk on lean days and marked the opulence of noble tables.