In Renaissance Florence, meals were not divided into starter-main-dessert but organized into two alternating services. The servizio di credenza brought together cold dishes from the buffet (cured meats, fruits, confections, spiced wines prepared in advance), while the servizio di cucina delivered hot dishes fresh from the kitchen (soups, roasts, sauces). Several courses followed, from lightest to most substantial, returning to sweet and spiced flavors to close. For a chancellery clerk like Machiavelli, this splendor was reduced to essentials, and rural exile brought him back to the peasant pot.

Tuscan cuisine of the 15th–16th centuries loved to combine sweet and sour: cinnamon, ginger, saffron, and cloves flavored both savory and sweet dishes, while agresto — juice of unripe green grapes — provided the sharp acidity that today we expect from lemon or vinegar. This sweet-and-sour, perfumed thread connects the festive roast to the evening wine.