At the Viennese court, as in affluent bourgeois homes of the 18th century, meals were not served course by course: several dishes were placed on the table together in two or three successive 'services', where roasts, stews, vegetables, and entremets coexisted. Each guest helped themselves to what was within reach. Sweets and hot drinks concluded the meal, often in the drawing room. This structure blended Austro-Bohemian cuisine (bread, cabbage, game) with the French refinement then sweeping through European courts.

A small seed with an aniseed, warm flavor, caraway is the signature spice of Central Europe: it flavors bread, cabbage, roasts, and even liqueurs. It is the aromatic thread linking the Bohemian table of Gluck's childhood to the splendor of imperial courts.