Louis IX (Saint Louis) at the table

At the 13th-century French court, meals were not served as starter, main course, and dessert: instead, successive "mets" (or "services") were brought in, each composed of several dishes set out together on the table, where everyone helped themselves according to their rank. They began with pottages and broths, followed by roasts and entremets, then the "issue de table" (sweet dishes and chamber spices like hypocras) and the "boute-hors." On lean days prescribed by the Church (Fridays, vigils, Lent), everything was reorganized around fish, pulses, and almond milk—and King Louis, out of devotion, multiplied these fast days well beyond what was required.

A pillar of medieval Christian cooking: almonds are ground with water to obtain a "milk" that replaces animal milk on fast days. Rich, white, and neutral, it binds pottages, whitens festive dishes, and sustains travelers. For a king as devoted to lean days as Louis IX, it was everywhere.