In ancient Greece, there was no rice. People ate barley bread or coarse bread. In ancient Greece or Rome, until medieval times, they had no chopsticks. At first, they used bare hands. Before each meal, they must wash their hands clean with clear water. 

In a castle, the lord and his family sat round a long table. They had appetizer, bread, roasted potatoes, roasted duck, apple salad, pickled fish, pumpkin pies, cheese, and minced mutton pies. The drink was wine and cabbage soup. The dessert was fruit cake or plum cake. 

The maids and servants held basins and walked between the tables. Whenever the guests needed, they washed their hands in the clear water in the basins.

The kitchen was seperated from the main hall, because the kitchen was a dangerous place. It often caught fire. The servants stored wine, cider and mead in large and small oak barrels. They put cheese and meat in the cupboard. They pickled fish and made pork into sasuages. 

The maids boiled cabbage in a pot. And a boy roasted duck in a large oven.

When the guests ordered the dishes, the servants held the platters and walked through a long passage to the main hall. There were portraits along the wall. And lamps lighted. Sometimes, a still life was drawn, showing vegetables on the kitchen table.