Among the noble Arverni, meals are not served in successive courses but around a central hearth, seated on skins or straw bales before low tables. Roasted meats arrive whole, and each person cuts their share with a knife; cervoise and mead circulate in drinking horns and bronze vessels. Daily fare consists of cereal porridge and bacon, while the feast contrasts an abundance of game with the sobriety of ordinary days. The 'hero's portion'—the choicest cut—goes to the bravest warrior, which could spark duels.

The Gauls were renowned throughout the ancient world for their salted pork, exported as far as Rome. Salt, beechwood smoke, and long maturation: this is the great Celtic culinary technique, transforming the most prized animal into war provisions and a prestige food.