Posts tagged w/ French Christmas traditions

French Holidays - La Fête des Rois

Posted by Chanda
Jan
6
2009

Today is the Epiphany (l’Epiphanie).  It is a Christian holiday that celebrates the time when the three wise men followed the north star to Bethlehem where they found baby Jesus and gifted him with gold (de l’or), myrrah (de la myrrhe) and incense (de l’encens).    One of the traditions in France on this day is to have a galette des rois (wise men cake or 3 Magi bread).  The galette dates back to the 14th century and was traditionally divided into enough portions for all the people present plus one more for the first poor person that passed by.  Nowadays, the first portion is usually reserved for the youngest person in the family.  A white or black bean (fève) is hidden in the cake and the one who finds it is crowned the king and can choose his queen for the day or vice versa.  Most homemade cakes have a dry bean hidden inside, but the bakeries now insert plastic ones.  In the past, beans made out of porcelain, earthenware and even precious metals have been placed inside the cakes.  There is even a museum in Blain, France which showcases all types of these collector’s items.   In the south, they often have a couronne en brioche (brioche in the form of a crown) instead.Galette des rois

 
Posted under Culture, Vocabulary
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French Holidays - Still Looking for Ideas for Your Christmas Menu?

Posted by Chanda
Dec
24
2008

Why not add some French flair to your holiday dinner?  Some very traditional French Christmas choices include dinde de Noël (Christmas turkey) which is prepared in a variety of interesting ways, chapon (capon) and any dish with foie gras including tatin pommes foie gras.  

Here is a recipe for Tatin Pommes Foie Gras from the Marmiton website.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
3 or 4 apples
10 ½ ounces of raw foie gras
1 puff pastry
butter
caster sugar
2 cups of sweet white wine
cream

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Peel the apples and slice them.  Brown them on low heat in butter with a little bit of caster sugar.
Arrange them in a rosette in a cake pan.
Deglaze the frying pan with half of the wine and pour it into a saucepan.  (Deglazing means that after you remove the foie gras, you add the wine to the hot pan.   Scrape up all the brown bits. The wine helps lift them from the bottom of the pan and stir until it has all been lifted from the bottom of the frying pan. The wine will continue to reduce until you have only a small amount left.)  Set aside.
Quickly fry the sliced foie gras on both sides.
Salt and pepper and place the slices on the apples.
Deglaze the frying pan again with the rest of the wine and add it to the saucepan.
Place the pastry puff on top of the foie gras and put it in the oven for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the wine in order to reduce the sauce.  Add the cream and bind.
Remove the foie gras pastry from the mold upside down.
Serve accompanied by the sauce. 

Joyeux Noël!

 
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