The structure of the German bourgeois meal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries revolves around the Mittagessen (hot midday meal, the pivot of the day), the Abendbrot (cold supper of bread, cold cuts and cheese in the evening), and the Kaffee und Kuchen (afternoon coffee and cake, a cherished social ritual in Göttingen). At Hilbert's table, managed by his wife Käthe, meals were simple and quick: food was meant to support the mind, not slow it down.

Dense rye bread and caraway seed, perfuming breads, cabbages, and spirits, are the continuo of Prussian and Lower Saxon cuisine. This earthy, almost anise-like bitterness runs through the entire repertoire from Königsberg to Göttingen.