In the late Middle Ages, a meal was not organized into starter-main course-dessert but into successive 'dishes' (services): first liquid pottages, then roasted meats or stews, entremets, and finally the 'issue de table' (fruits, dragées, spiced wine). But Jeanne, a farmer's daughter, mostly ate the common fare: the 'soupe' from the communal pot, into which the whole household dipped their bread. Her wartime table remained that of a peasant—frugal and sober—even when she sat near the king.

Juice of unripe green grapes (or wild apples) pressed before maturity: it is the acidic soul of medieval French cuisine, where we would use lemon. It was used to sharpen stews and sauces. Along with rye bread and wine cut with water, it defines the taste of the kingdom of France in Joan's time.