In Leibniz's time, in the cities and courts of central Germany, meals were organized around the Tafel: a soup (Suppe) almost always opened the service, followed by boiled or roasted meats or fish, coated in thick sweet-and-sour sauces where vinegar, honey, and dried fruits complemented each other. Rye bread accompanied everything. Beer and Rhine wine flowed from start to finish; in the morning, one gladly took a beer soup — or, a fashionable novelty among scholars, a cup of coffee. Sweets did not form a separate 'dessert': spiced Pfefferkuchen, jams, and candied fruits circulated with the rest, a sign of wealth and conviviality.

The great signature of this cuisine is sweet-and-sour (süßsauer): vinegar or dark beer is married with honey, raisins, and prunes, and — a typically Saxon gesture — the sauce is thickened with crumbled gingerbread (Pfefferkuchen), which brings both body, sweetness, and a bouquet of ginger, cinnamon, and clove.