Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality for most, reflecting agricultural hardship, but a great diversity of ingredients was known, and wealthy Greeks were known to celebrate with elaborate meals and feasts. The cuisine was founded on the "Mediterranean triad" of cereals, olives, and grapes, which had many uses and great commercial value, but other ingredients were as important, if not more so, to the average diet: most notably legumes. Research suggests that the agricultural system of Ancient Greece could not have succeeded without the cultivation of legumes. Modern knowledge of ancient Greek cuisine and eating habits is derived from textual, archeological, and artistic evidence. Meals In the homeric epics of Iliad and Odyssey, three meals are mentioned. Ariston (ἄριστον) Dorpon (δόρπον) or Dorpos (δόρπος) Deipnon (δεῖπνον) Ariston was the early meal, while dorpon was the late meal. Deipnon could be either, without reference to time. In the later age Greeks had the below meals: Acratisma (ἀκράτισμα) Ariston Deipnon Acratisma was the early meal (similar to the ariston of the homeric age), ariston was the middle meal and deipnon was the evening meal (similar to the dorpon of the homeric age). Description of the meals Breakfast Breakfast ( akratismós and ἀκράτισμα akratisma, acratisma) consisted of barley bread dipped in wine ( ákratos), sometimes complemented by figs or olives. They also ate a sort of pancake called (tēganítēs), (tagēnítēs) or (tagēnías), all words deriving from (tágēnon), "frying pan". The earliest attested references on tagenias are in the works of the 5th century BC poets Cratinus and Magnes. Tagenites were made with wheat flour, olive oil, honey and curdled milk, and were served for breakfast. Another kind of pancake was (staititēs), from (staitinos), "of flour or dough of spelt", derived from (stais), "flour of spelt". Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae mentions staititas topped with honey, sesame and cheese. Lunch A quick lunch ( áriston) was taken around noon or early afternoon. Dinner Dinner ( deīpnon), the most important meal of the day, was generally taken at nightfall. An additional light meal ( hespérisma) was sometimes taken in the late afternoon. / aristódeipnon, literally "lunch-dinner", was served in the late afternoon instead of dinner. Epideipnis (ἐπιδειπνίς) was a second course at dinner. Eating customs Men and women took their meals separately. When the house was small, the men ate first and the women afterwards. Respect for the father who was the breadwinner was