Dessert is an apt conclusion to the series on food. Desserts, including sweetmeats and honey cakes were eaten by the higher classes, including koptoplakous, the ancestor to baklava still eaten in Greece today. It would have certainly been on Theophana’s table:
Theophana smiled indulgently at her. She seemed to be in an especially good humor. “Since Constantine will not be returning, I think it best that we look elsewhere to marry you. There are so many good matches to be had for a young woman of your position in the world and I hardly think any suitor will find your looks displeasing or wanting. Now,” She picked up a two-tined fork and prodded a dish in which lay koptoplakous in golden, honeyed splendor. “Won’t you try this, Davit? It is very good.” She smiled at him. Normally the koptoplakous, filled with nuts and honey, soaked with bay leaves and resting between layers of pastry would have made Sophia’s mouth water. She watched as a servant prepared to cut and serve the sweetmeat. Theophana’s eyes were bright with anticipation, but Sophia did not think it was the koptoplakous that inspired her.
Speaking of forks, to the imperial family the fork would have been a recognizable implement, yet still hundreds of years away from regular use in Western Europe. The wife of the Holy Roman Emperor in the West, Otto II was a Byzantine princess. (Her name was Theophano Sclerina and she was a member of the Scleros family. Not to be confused with my fictional Theophana nor to the historical Theophano who was mother to the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII). She used a fork as a matter of course at a banquet in 972 in Germany and caused no little astonishment (and perhaps scorn) to her Western in-laws.
If women were present at banquets, they were most often served at a separate table. Then as now, social rules might often be disregarded however. Women’s social standing in the Byzantine Empire presents an interesting subject for another article outside the scope of this one. They were certainly excused from post dinner festivities which were often the venue for riotous drinking and dancing girls.
A whole book could be written regarding the gastronomic and culinary delights of the middle Byzantine empire and suffice to say there is not room in a blog. Food says much about a culture. What could food say about the Byzantines? That they enjoyed fine food in an age when much of the world dined on simpler fare, perhaps? Or does it say something about the abundance of the empire during the reigns of Basil II and his brother Constantine? Basil II was known to give special preference in taxation to the common farmers versus the large plantation farms of the nobility. He recognized that agriculture was the foundation of his empire. Truly the Byzantines have bequeathed to us a legacy not least of which was their food. Perhaps except for the garum.
I highly recommend reading from these resources:
Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire by Marcus Rautman
The Book of the Eparch
Geoponika (translated by Thomas Owen)
Let me know your thoughts below.