How to celebrate Christmas in France. Christmas in France: history, features, traditions and interesting facts. List of dishes on the Christmas table in France

The traditions of this holiday are valued by all Europeans, regardless of religion. At Christmas, the French, like Russians at New Year, usually gather with family at the festive table, where you can find many delicious and unusual dishes. Christmas dinner even has a special name in this country - “reveillon” (from the French réveillon - “awakening”). This is not just a family feast, but a gala event for which all the French begin to prepare a month, and sometimes two, in advance. First you need to think through all the details of the upcoming event - from the decoration of the house to the long list of products that will be required for the festive table. With a week left until Christmas, the most important stage of preparation begins. Women spend their days in the kitchen creating culinary masterpieces. Men are tasked with cutting meat and selecting alcoholic beverages. Children are also not left out - they usually help set the table and carry out small errands for their parents.

As a result, the festive dinner turns into a grandiose event, in the preparation of which, one way or another, every member of the family takes part. It is believed that the Christmas table should be bursting with a variety of dishes - both traditional and truly luxurious, which can only be afforded on this amazing holiday. Most dishes have their own symbolism, and numbers are given great importance. For example, in Provence, the tradition of serving 13 desserts (according to the number of participants in the Last Supper) is especially popular. These delicacies are prepared from sponge cake, olive oil, nougat and honey, and they always contain several types of nuts and dried fruits, each of which symbolizes one of the four wandering monastic orders and Jesus Christ.

Each region of the country has its own local customs, which differ from each other. But there are several universal traditions of the Christmas table in France, which most families still observe.

This is how the French traditionally start their Christmas evening with an aperitif and small appetizers. Usually champagne or white wine, foie gras, rolls, canapés, tartlets, terrines and rillettes made from meat and game are served at the table. The French are especially fond of exquisite seafood dishes: various oysters, Burgundy snails (escorgo), shrimp, crabs, lobsters, sans-jacs (scallops), langoustines.

Then comes the turn of the main dish, the basis of which is meat, game or fish. In most regions of France, they prefer to bake turkey or traditional chapon, which is usually stuffed with dried fruits, mushrooms and nuts soaked in wine. Other popular meat dishes that are prepared especially for the Christmas table are veal filet mignon and duck baked with oranges.

After this, the French love to enjoy delicious cheeses. And finally, festive sweets are always served at the table: nuts and fruits in chocolate, pear in wine and chestnuts in ice cream.

But the most famous French dessert is the “Christmas log” - “Bûche de Noël”. This sweet treat looks like a real log sprinkled with snow. Today it is prepared from dough and cream, sometimes decorated with small figures. However, this sweet roll has a very unusual origin. It is interesting that initially it was not a dessert that was eaten at all, but a real wooden log.

After the end of the midnight festive mass, the head of the family performed a ritual that was supposed to protect the house and bring prosperity to the household. He said a prayer over the Christmas log, then sprinkled it with sacred water or wine and set it on fire. For this ritual, the types of trees that burn the slowest were usually chosen. When the festive dinner was over, the charred log could be left in the house (as a trap for fleas and bedbugs), or its ashes could be scattered over the fields - it was believed that this would help ensure that the future wheat harvest would be generous. Today this tradition has sunk into the past, the “Christmas log” has ceased to be a symbol of protection, turning into a holiday dessert beloved by all the French.

They are already beginning to decorate store windows and streets with festive garlands, and 4 full weeks before Christmas begins Advent- pre-Christmas post. At this time, special Christmas wreaths with four candles are bought for Advent: each for the next Sunday or Advent week. At this time, it is customary to give pre-Christmas calendars, where a surprise gift (for example, candy) is given for each day. Every day another window opens. And so on until Christmas.

By Christmas, the appearance of the city is simply transformed. If possible, all shops and restaurants decorate their windows and doors with Christmas trees and garlands. The best designers in France are involved in the festive decorations of large department stores. The design of the department store is especially worth noting - the entire façade of the building is covered with garlands, presenting a simply fantastic sight. And inside the famous building there is a huge Christmas tree. The Meris Hotel on Rue de Rivoli even hosts an exhibition and sale of the best Christmas trees, for example, with Swarovski decorations.

Christmas markets in France

List of the best Christmas markets in France:

Christmas services in France

The Christmas holiday falls on December 25th, when everything is closed. December 24 is a working day, but a short one. On this day everything works until about 16:00. And on the evening of the 25th, Christmas services begin in churches. The main service is held in Paris Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The Christmas service is held on December 24, starting at approximately 10 p.m. You will have to arrive very early to get a seat. From about 16:30 there are other services. Most likely you will have to sit them out, since it will be crowded with people for the night service. At 7 pm there is a procession of children holding the crucifixion of Christ.

However, services are also held in other churches. And all the churches are decorated with installations on the theme of the birth of Christ with figures of saints and an image of a cave with a manger. In the old days, artisans made these figurines throughout the year, complementing the holy family and shepherds with figurines of local dignitaries. As a rule, the figures were painted with bright colors, and their casting molds were passed on from one generation to another. You could buy such figurines for yourself during December at the annual Christmas markets in and. This tradition has survived to this day.

Traditions of celebrating Christmas in France

Christmas in France is a family holiday, that is, it is customary to celebrate it with your family, at home. The main dish on the festive table may differ depending on the region. In the northeast of the country, in, and, the central decoration of the table is the Christmas goose. Turkey and chestnuts are served instead. Buckwheat cakes with sour cream are served on the festive table.

Instead of a Christmas tree, they often decorate the house mistletoe sprigs. It is believed to bring good luck and happiness in the new year. Mistletoe is used to make wreaths on doors or walls, or simply decorate a holiday table with them.

It is often complemented by Christmas-themed figures, such as the creche noel, a model of the scene of the birth of Christ. Little Jesus is depicted in a manger with the Virgin Mary and Joseph, surrounded by the Magi. Sometimes in their place there may be figures of saints - santons.

Creche Noel

Traditionally, on Christmas Eve, the French family makes a special log. It is made from fresh wood, usually cherry, sometimes oak or beech. It is believed that the cut trunk retains the magical properties of the tree and increases the yield. Then a special ritual is carried out to bring the log into the house: the head of the family pours heated oil and wine on it, while the rest pray earnestly. Little girls set fire to the Christmas log with small chips from last year's log, and their hands must be clean.

Nowadays it is extremely rare to see such a ritual, but the tradition of the Christmas log remains. Now, however, not in the literal sense: a holiday cake is made in the shape of a Christmas log, or dishes for the Christmas table are decorated.

Christmas in France is a magical time, it stretches over a whole month, full of preparatory turmoil and bustle in anticipation of the cherished moment. I have been living in Paris for quite some time, and although the main holiday for me remains Orthodox Christmas, it is impossible not to get drawn into the whirlwind of Christmas troubles, especially with children, who are literally surrounded here by the atmosphere of a wonderful holiday. In French it is called Noël, which has its roots in the Latin Dies Natalis - the Nativity of the Lord.

For a large number of people, Christmas is a religious holiday, while for everyone else it is a family celebration, a reason to get together (and the French have large families!) at the festive table and near a richly decorated Christmas tree, to light a fireplace, which is found in many homes. grandparents for sure, and exchange gifts.

But first things first.

Preparations for Christmas begin in... November. This, of course, has a strong commercial component, but its original meaning is still ecclesiastical. On the last Sunday of November, Advent begins (which we already mentioned in - approx. ed.), therefore, on Saturday, Christmas tree markets open, where you can buy a Christmas tree (by the way, in France it is not prickly), and branches to make a Christmas wreath. It is called the “crown” - couronne de Noël. You can also buy a ready-made crown, but it is very expensive, and I have been making wreaths myself for several years now, especially since this is.

Usually, a straw wreath is covered with branches, tightly wrapped with wire, four candle stands are placed on it, and then your imagination can run wild: dried orange slices and rowan sprigs, cinnamon sticks, pine cones, dried flowers, bows - everything goes into use. Many people start stocking materials for decoration in the summer. The main thing is the candles, there are four of them on the four Sundays of Advent preceding Christmas. Every Sunday evening, at dinner, the family lights one new candle on the wreath, which symbolizes the coming of the Light into the world.

Well, probably the most favorite children's entertainment is the Advent calendar. The traditional one is made of felt, or fabric, or wood, and a small candy is hidden behind each pocket or in each drawer. One for each of the 24 days of December until Christmas. Initially, the tradition was religious, sweets brightened up the time of fasting for children and were accompanied by pieces of paper with phrases from the Gospel; today almost every child has such a calendar: they are sold as boxes of sweets or toys - a new one every day as a promise of a future holiday.

Christmas markets open in early December. Initially, they were only in Alsace and Lorraine, former German states, but in recent decades the tradition has spread throughout the country. The largest market begins to sparkle on the Champs Elysees in Paris in early December and remains open until Christmas. Smaller fairs appear in squares everywhere, but last only three days, during which you need to have time to buy gifts, most often from an assortment of folk crafts: soap, jewelry, ceramics.

Another interest of such a market is holiday food, always local, produced by farmers: Alpine cheeses and sausages, Corsican olives, Provençal nougat and calissons (almond paste sweets) and much more. Such markets are usually designed in the form of a small village, where you can spend the whole evening with the whole family, eat hot waffles and donuts, drink mulled wine or hot apple juice with spices. It can be so thick and spicy that the French even call it soup.

Christmas is gaining momentum. In mid-December, Nativity scenes appear at the entrances to many churches - a manger with the baby Jesus. On weekends, costume performances with scenes from the Old and New Testaments are even performed near them. Colorful installations can also decorate the squares in front of city halls, but in the last few years the French Supreme Court has had to consider several lawsuits against such nativity scenes: according to the law, no religious symbols can be displayed in a public place. The court examined these cases and decided to leave the nativity scenes: after all, they do not carry a cultural meaning for Christians about the value of the family in the person of the Holy Family.

In France, children expect gifts and sweets from a magical character whose name is Père Noël, which can be translated into Russian as Father Noël (Noël is not only the name of the holiday, but also a man’s name). Today he is depicted in the same way as his brother in Anglo-Saxon countries - Santa Claus, but his prototype is not St. Nicholas, who brings gifts to children on his holiday on December 6 (in the northern and eastern regions), but another wizard from fairy tales, whom Previously, he was depicted as a small old man in a pointed hat entwined with holly. Numerous elves help him - lutins, in which children usually dress up on school holidays.

And then, on December 24th, Christmas Eve comes, when the whole family gathers in the house of its oldest members. Parents spend the whole day preparing a festive dinner, children read Christmas books saved for a special occasion, then everyone sets the table together. Setting the Christmas table is as important as the food itself. The French are very attentive to detail: the table must certainly be decorated in the same style, the dishes must be matched to the napkins, everything must be decorated with candles and stars.

For the festive table, the French stock up on foie gras (goose liver pate) and oysters; as a main course, they bake turkey with chestnuts or cook fish and seafood. In fact, there is no one template; even for foie gras, there are dozens of types of serving (by the way, the French often make this delicacy themselves, and do not splurge on expensive store-bought jars). But the Christmas dessert is always the same - roll bûche de Noël- . Quite often it actually looks a lot like a log: the grooves in the buttercream resemble tree bark. This is how the French remember the ancient Celtic tradition of bringing such a huge log into the house at the end of December and burning it in the fireplace so that its heat would last for the whole evening for the whole family. In ancient times, such logs were decorated with ribbons and holly; today, small figures and Christmas trees decorate the sweet dessert.

Closer to midnight, for some it is time to exchange gifts, while others are called to the Christmas Mass by church bells. But for both religious people and complete atheists, Christmas plays an equally important role, remaining the favorite holiday of the year, for which it takes so long to prepare and which flies by so quickly.

December 25th is probably the quietest day of the year, when all restaurants and shops are closed so that everyone can share the best moments with their family. The very next day, the passage of time resumes, people go to work. There is still a noisy New Year's party ahead with friends, but everyone understands that they have already crossed the line, that a miracle has happened and now everyone is hoping for something better from the new year.

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For us, the New Year is associated with Olivier, tangerines and the ringing pops of sparkling wine - champagne; for the French, champagne is also an important component of the holiday menu, but there are many other dishes that are unfamiliar to us, which we will talk about below. Most dishes have a ritual origin, that is, the presence of a particular dish on the table is a tribute to the past.

List of dishes on the Christmas table in France:

1. Le Pain Calendeau – “Le pain calendeau” is a traditional dish in the south of France. This is a kind of Christmas loaf, a separate part of which is given to the poor or homeless, which is why Christmas is a long-awaited holiday for the lower social strata, and besides, they also get part of the clothes that people get rid of.
2. Bouche de Noel - they used to plan a log and burn it, but now it’s a cake or a pie, because it’s rare for French families to burn a log. Nowadays, rarely does anyone do such a traditional burning; more often the log is made in the form of a small model, or a cake is baked in the form of a log. Tradition preserved - new approach!
3. La Galette des Rois. Prepared for the feast of Epiphany (January 6). The round pie is cut into pieces, and the child who sits under the table (he is called the “little king” or “child of the sun”) says who will get a piece. Previously, a bean was baked into a pie and the one who got a piece with a bean becomes the King or Queen and can choose a Queen or King for the couple.
4. Traditionally, there should be a bird on the French table, no matter goose or duck, rooster, chicken or turkey. Most often, goose is cooked, but simply baking any bird for a French gourmet is beneath his dignity. Turkey, for example, is usually started with pork or truffles, champignons or goose liver, after which it is all marinated in cognac or wine. The duck is marinated in grapefruit or orange sauce with the addition of anise. Chicken or chicken is stuffed with goose liver, nuts, ham, and various spices. When serving, a side dish of chestnuts, vegetables or fruits, such as pears, is placed on the plate.
5. In some regions of France, in addition to poultry, a very tasty rabbit can be baked, which is served with a variety of vegetable and fruit salads with wine vinegar or olive oil.
6. Christmas pudding is also sometimes served. It was originally an English dish, but it spread throughout Europe. It can be performed either on the basis of oatmeal with fruit, as a dessert, or sometimes it was also made as a way of preserving meat (an ancient legend).
7. In Provence, it is customary to serve 13 different desserts and a wide variety of sweets in honor of the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ, including dried fruits: raisins, dates, dried apricots.
8. The festive table must include the traditional and favorite dish of all French people without exception - foie gras, which literally means “goose liver”, which is the main component of various dishes, such as pate.
9. In large cities with a higher standard of living, the French take care of the availability of rare and expensive delicacies on the tables, such as lobsters, lobsters or oysters.
10. Capon is another popular dish on the French Christmas table. Essentially it's just a rooster, but there's a whole long process to getting the dish to taste good, starting with the rooster hatching from the egg. This is a castrated rooster, so when the chick has reached 3 months. At the present stage, there are other options for castration, but the name has remained the same.

    The young cockerel is fed in a special way, and in the last months of life they are given whey or milk. Everyone does this to make the rooster larger, tastier and fatter. Previously, in order for this dish to be on the holiday table, it had to be ordered from butchers in advance, but now it can be purchased at any butcher shop, since it has become fashionable and is prepared almost throughout France.

    In the Middle Ages, there were many different recipes for preparing capon - it could be served fried or used to make broths, and other dishes were made, for example, blancmange with almonds, which is very similar to the Georgian national dish - satsivi.

11. Champagne! What would it be like without him? Even if it is not a French invention, as many believe, not even all French people admit that it was invented by the British, but it is very popular in France and is produced in large quantities. You probably know that in France there is a province of Champagne, after which sparkling wine is named.

Many dishes are very tasty and interesting for our people, so if you have already decided to study French, then get to know the culture of France better, take a couple of dishes to note, and let your holiday table become a little richer than that of the rest of our compatriots. Good luck to you, and Happy New Year and Merry Christmas, dear gourmets!

Difficulties.net begins publishing thematic materials about life in France. Selection number one is gastronomic. You will learn about traditional dishes that are prepared in many French families, as well as recipes and secrets of their preparation, adapted to Russian conditions. (Recipes are at the bottom of the article).

Let's start with the festive table, which is made in France for one of the most important holidays of the year - Catholic Christmas. Christmas is considered a family holiday, which it is advisable to celebrate with your family (as in Russia - New Year), and not only with a narrow group (wife/husband/children). On Christmas, it is customary to gather, for example, with parents, where all the children and grandchildren come.

The Christmas table in France is always an abundance. If during a regular dinner (even with guests) there may be only one dish as an appetizer, or not at all, then at Christmas there are a lot of appetizers.

Traditional snacks– these are delicacies: duck or goose foie gras, oysters and snails, smoked fish.

Classic serving option foie gras in French - with a special loaf of black or gray bread, with fig jam and special coarse salt.

Oysters(number 3 or 5 most popular) usually served with lemon, it's a classic. But there is another option, little known in Russia - baked in the oven with cheese. Not everyone likes this unconventional way of preparing something that is usually eaten raw, but, in fairness, the taste of warm oysters with melted cheese is also quite interesting.

Snails- another traditional dish of French cuisine, usually eaten during the cold season, and what if not at Christmas and New Year? Housewives usually buy snails already stuffed with a special seasoning (chopped parsley, garlic, olive oil) in a supermarket or market, so all that remains is to put them in the oven.

Second courses

One of the traditional Christmas dishes in France is big turkey(don’t forget that, as a rule, a large family gathers!), stuffed with chestnuts.

Or, as an option, baked in a stove duck breast. The housewife must have experience in ensuring that the duck breast turns out neither raw nor overcooked, which will make it dry. Ideally, the breast should give off pink juice, not blood, and be covered with an appetizing crust on the outside. It's really not easy to catch the right moment with the breast.

Next, after the main courses in French cuisine, there are cheeses, which are served before dessert and are a separate dish, and not a dessert, as is sometimes mistakenly believed in Russia. There may or may not be a so-called “cheese plate” on the holiday table, consisting of several pieces of different types of cheese. After all, cheeses almost always accompany a family meal, and it is not necessary to serve them during a holiday.

Next come Dessert. The French love it very much brioche- a traditional sweet bun, the recipe for which comes from Normandy (circa 16th century). Due to the fact that preparing classic brioche (in French this is a feminine dish) is quite time-consuming and the recipe is not simple, today many people prefer to buy brioche in bakeries and pastry shops. Although older women still keep their own brioche recipe.

Brioche is good, but it is far from the only dessert served at a festive French table. Usually these are various homemade cakes, with Christmas symbols (all the cakes in the photo, for example, were made by a 16-year-old girl). Something airy, bright, with many details and elements that ideally should not taste cloying. Don’t forget, since there are a lot of dishes on the French table, they simply have to be light so that guests can withstand sitting on the table for many hours.

Another popular French dish is strawberry mousse(recipe will be given below). It tastes amazing, but quality ingredients and strict adherence to the recipe are a must.

A simpler thing - traditional apple cake(in our opinion this is a pie). It can be with or without caramel. In the photo there is a cake according to a simple recipe that even a schoolchild can prepare.

There may be other sweets on the table, for example, dried fruits or glazed nuts.

We prepare French dishes ourselves:

Might be interesting:

Elena Kurylenko, photo by Olga Popova