At festivals, or when the lord had noble guests, it was a time for feasting in the castle. The kitchens worked day and night, and walls echoed with crackling fires and the songs of minstrels. The menus for castle banquets seem odd today. Now, we serve different sorts of food- such as fish, meat, and dessert- in individual courses. But castle cooks mixed sweet and savoury. In a single course, roast heron and a pigs head might share the table with pike and a sickly sweet pie made of cream, eggs, dates and prunes. Wealthy people enjoyed spicy food, but the cook did not use spices to hide the taste of rotting ingredients. In fact, food was often very fresh. Meals were spicy because this was the fashionable way to cook. Spices were very coastly, and spiced food was a sign of wealth and luxury.