Dec 13
Imagine my delight when right after my Bûche de Noël afternoon with Marie-Françoise, I wandered into my corner pâtisserie to pick up some bread for dinner, et voilá, there behind the glass were these adorable bûchettes. As you know, j’adore anything mini in France, so I couldn’t pass them up. Four didn’t seem too lucky, so I bought five.
Dec 13
I love the family traditions and special foods surrounding Christmas in France, and this week I had the opportunity to learn a few family secrets. I headed to the kitchen of my friend Marie-Françoise to learn how to make la Bûche de Noël, well actually three different Bûche de Noël…each cake a guarded recipe from three special women, from three different generations.
La Bûche de Noël is the traditional French Christmas cake, shaped like a log, made to symbolize the Yule log. The custom of burning a Yule log at the end of the year dates back to at least medieval times, when villages would gather to celebrate the Winter Solstice. After the shortest day of the year, the log would be lit to acknowledge the coming daylight and to welcome the New Year.
In the early days the Yule log was a carefully selected tree (yes, tree, and traditionally a fruit tree). Once chosen and cut, the bulkiest end was placed into the hearth while the rest of the tree filled the room. The tree was lit using the remains of the Yule log from the year before and burned from Christmas Eve, through the Twelve Days, and was extinguished on the Twelfth night. Whatever was left was stored carefully in the house to bring good luck and protect the family from lightning, of course.
Interestingly, according to Marie-Françoise, the tradition of burning the Yule log in Paris, came to an abrupt halt when Napoleon and his city planning pal, Haussmann decided to gentrify the city by tearing down the disorder and getting rid of the riffraff. The familiar Haussmann apartments, many of which did not have chimneys, replaced them.
Lacking the fireplaces to burn the logs, the culinary-inclined Parisians headed to the kitchen (or perhaps the corner bakery) to create (or pick up) an edible log and continue the tradition in a slightly different way.
As for yesterday, it was great fun learning to make three different varieties of Bûche de Noël, all with sweet and meaningful family memories attached.
…and what about Père Noël and his renne (reindeer)?
source: rukakuusamo.com
Well naturally some of them have different names in French, but to make things even easier for Santa on his big night, the French have assigned each reindeer an unique attribute, just to make sure things run smoothly…
… et alors, you know…
TORNADE, le plus rapide, the quickest – DASHER
DANSEUR, la plus gracieuse, the most graceful—DANCER
FURIE, le plus puissant, the most powerful—PRANCER
FRINGANT, belle et puissante, the beautiful and powerful—VIXEN
COMÉTE, qui apporte le bonheur aux enfants, who brings children happiness—COMET
CUPIDON: qui améme l’amour aux enfant, who brings children love—CUPID
TONNERRE, le plus fort, the strongest (thunder)—DONNER
ÉCLAIR, qui apporte la lumière, who brings light, (lightning)—BLITZEN
…but do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all…RODOLPHE LE RENNE AU NEZ ROUGE…
And even though in English, the carol starts by introducing the reindeer one-by-one, in French, it starts this way, while sung to the same familiar tune:
Quand la neige recouvre la verte Finlande,
Et que les rennes traversent la lande,
Le vent dans la nuit
Au troupeau parle encore de lui…
When snow covers green Finland
And reindeer cross the moor
The night wind
Still talks to the herd about him…
Take a look here to see the whole song in action. Amusez-vous!
Vocabulaire
Amusez-vous! Have fun!
Père Noël: Father Christmas, Santa Claus
.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a language post, but I’ve come across several holiday words and phrases in the last few days that have made me grin. Here is a petite sample:
le bonhomme de neige, a good old chap made of snow (or in this case lights)
Dec 10
The French shopkeepers do a marvelous job of gussying up their storefronts for Noël, doing their best to make it the most wonderful time of the year. The decoration of choice is la guirlande. From the grand boulevards to the smallest alleys and passageways, garland is wrapped around doorframes, dangling from awnings and framing candle-lit windows.
It’s easy to recapture that childlike excitement and anticipation at Christmastime in France.
Enjoy the Christmas magic I’ve come across this week.
Vocabulaire
la guirlande: garland
Paris is covered in sparkling bobbles en ce moment, et je les adore!
With les boules de Noël in all colors, sheens, and sizes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
Vocabulaire
en ce moment: at the moment
et je les adore! and I love them!
boules de Noël: the bobbles, ball-shaped Christmas ornaments
365+ Things I Love About France 