For
each family, there is a special way to celebrate
Christmas, and especially a traditional french Christmas (eve) dinner. In France, we do share however some
traditional étiquettes for
the Reveillon
de Noël.
Every principal member of the family brings some gourmet specialties
unique to his or her own region, generally from a particular
reputable artisan (craftsman)
or éleveur (grower/farmer).
Every
year on Christmas’ Eve, our large family meets in a beautiful
little estate lost in the middle of large agricultural fields dormant
in the dead of winter. As we gather in the dining room, near a lively
fire, bottles of Champagne are sabrées (opened
with a sabre). Des
amuse-gueules/bouches (bite-sized
dishes) soon arrive from the busy kitchen, especially, warm and
crispy feuilletés
d’escargots (snail
pastries) are an accompaniment de rigueur, brought by my mother
from a local snail farm in the Anjou region.
After
a traditional protracted introductory course, we are called to sit down. The long
oak table has been set with a array of silverware, plates, glasses
and many other Christmas ornaments, as well as the ever-present bread
in baskets and butter. l’Entrée (the
appetizer) consists of raw & cooked oysters, saumon
fumé (smoked
salmon) and foie
gras served
with un
vin moëlleux (semi-sweet
wine) like a Vouvray,
Côteau du Layon, or liquoreux like
a Sauternes (very
sweet wine).
For
the plat
principal at the dinner,
we find some viande
rôtie (roasted
meat) like chapon (capon
- castrated
rooster), pintade (guineafowl), agneau (lamb), chevreuil (roe
deer), dinde
aux marrons (chestnut-stuff
turkey), accompanied by des petits
légumes (small
legumes): haricots
verts (green
beens), courgettes (zucchinis), champignons (mushrooms).
For proper food pairing, this part of the meal showcases some good,
robust red wines.
Plateau
de fromages
Following
a refreshing green salad comes an assortment of fromages presented
on a circular wooden board. The tradition demands that one offers at
least three different types of cheeses: lait
de vache (cow’s
milk), de
brebis (female
sheep) et
de chêvre (goat).
Bûche de Noël
Une
bûche de Noël is
the traditional and typical desert, a buttercream cake in the shape of
a log, topped with colorful little Christmas figurines, and cut in
individual slices for everyone. In our family however, we prefer an
ice-cream/cake version, which is much easier to digest to conclude
such a rich meal!
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