In the bourgeois Hesse of the 19th century where the Grimms lived, the day revolved around a few regular meals: Frühstück (coffee and rye bread in the morning), Mittagessen (the hot midday meal, soup then meat), Vesper (afternoon snack), and Abendbrot (cold supper of bread, cold cuts, and cheese, accompanied by beer or cider). No French-style starter/main/dessert: they distinguished the single hot meal at noon from the cold meals of morning and evening, and sweets belonged to fairs and festivities.

Two markers of the Germanic table: the little caraway seed that flavors soups, breads, cabbages, and roasts, and the tangy rye sourdough that gives black bread its long keeping quality. Together they sketch a taste of the North: earthy, slightly acidic, comforting.