What do the French eat on Christmas Day?

Christmas Dinner Dishes might include roast turkey with chestnuts or roast goose, oysters, foie gras, lobster, venison and cheeses. For dessert, a chocolate sponge cake log called a bûche de Noël is normally eaten. Another celebration, in some parts of France, is that 13 different desserts are eaten!

What food is eaten on Christmas in France?

What do the French do on Christmas Day?

Public life on Christmas Day is generally quiet. Post offices, banks, stores, restaurants, cafés and other businesses are closed. Many people in France put up a Christmas tree, visit a special church service, eat an elaborate meal and open gifts on Christmas Eve.

What is the Christmas Eve meal in France called?

A réveillon (French: [ʁevɛjɔ̃]) is a long dinner held in the evening preceding Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Its name descends from the word réveil (meaning "waking"), because participation involves staying awake until morning, as the meal finishes.

What is the special meal eaten late at night on Christmas Eve in France?

In France, it is the tradition to eat a special dinner late at night on Christmas Eve. This meal is called le réveillon de Noël. However, in the region of Provence, it is referred to as le gros souper - the big supper. It is eaten before going to midnight mass - la messe de minuit.

What Do the French Eat at Christmas ? | Easy French 143

What is the most popular Christmas dinner in France?

No 1 Foie Gras

This is top of the list when it comes to Christmas food. Literally translated as “fatty liver” it's a French delicacy. Sometimes you'll find it in the meat section whole, or offered prepared for you as a mousse or pate.

What do French people drink on Christmas Day?

Families usually kick things off by opening a bottle of fine Champagne, like the Champagne Paul Michel. Others may choose to begin with a traditional method French Crémant from the Loire, Limoux or Burgundy and bring out the Champagne later in the meal.

What are 3 traditional French Christmas foods?

Christmas is traditionally pegged as a time to pull out all the stops, so amuses bouches to accompany France's most famous bubbly may include foie gras, caviar, smoked salmon, and oysters. Smoked salmon is delicious prepared in a simple tartare or served in cucumber cups.

What do the French eat for breakfast on Christmas Day?

France's Christmas breakfast is full of sweet pastries. Many families will partake in pain au chocolat, croissants and brioche doughnuts.

What are Christmas Eve traditions in France?

The prevailing tradition in France is for everyone to sit down together and feast on the 24th December for a long, often luxurious meal called a réveillon. This tends to start in the evening, sometimes following a day of fasting, and goes on until midnight and beyond.

What are 5 facts about Christmas in France?

What do they call Santa in France?

Père Noël (French pronunciation: [pɛʁ nɔ. ɛl]), "Father Christmas", sometimes called 'Papa Noël' ("Daddy Christmas"), is a legendary gift-bringer at Christmas in France and other French-speaking areas, identified with the Father Christmas and/or Santa Claus of English-speaking territories.

What are the 13 desserts of Christmas in France?

Why do French eat oysters for Christmas?

The tradition of a seafood dinner on December 24th actually stems from a time when seafood and particularly oysters were the food of the poor, so having a few dozen oysters for dinner was seen as a 'fasting' day before the major Christmas feast.

Is the Christmas meal on Christmas Eve or day?

This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of the Christian feast day celebration, and form a significant part of gatherings held to celebrate the arrival of Christmastide.

How long is Christmas in France?

However, for some, the celebrations begin on St Nicholas' Day on 6th December and do not finish until January 6th (the Kings' Day). Most people in France celebrate in some way from 24th-26th.

Where in France is warm in December?

How cold is France in December? In most of France the temperatures will be below 10°C/50°F, with the exception of the French Riviera, where the average high can reach 14°C/57°F. In Paris, the temperature tends to range between 4-8°C/39-47°F, and in Alsace in eastern France it can drop to freezing (0°C/32°F).

How many courses in a French Christmas dinner?

As with all special dinners here in France, Christmas dinner is typically served in several courses starting with apéritif, one or two entrees, a main course and a cheese and salad course, followed by one (or more) desserts and Champagne and ending with a digestif.

What is French Christmas dinner like?

In France, Christmas dinner might feature a variety of foods including oysters, foie gras, roast meats like duck or turkey, and a range of cheeses. Dessert often includes a traditional Yule log cake called “Bûche de Noël.”

Do the French have Christmas crackers?

Though cracker-pioneer Tom Smith found his 19th-century inspiration in Paris (with bonbons in paper twists), crackers themselves remain virtually unknown in France.

Does France celebrate Christmas on 24th or 25th?

We actually celebrate christmas on 25th but we also celebrate christmas eve. It's wrong for France too. We celebrate Christmas Eve, le Réveillon, the 24th evening then Christmas, le jour de Noël, the 25th. Then we celebrate le jour de Rois Mages the 6th of January.

Is Christmas dinner on 24 or 25?

As a result, Jesus is said to have been born at 5 p.m. on December 24, and his birthday finishes at the same time on December 25. This is why, according to custom, Christmas supper is served on December 24 and Christmas brunch is served on December 25. So, in essence, Christmas is split into two days.

What time do French eat Christmas dinner?

Réveillon: The French Christmas Feast

It is the main French Christmas Meal and usually starts after the midnight mass, which can be as late as 2 am, but in modern times, families begin at 8 pm till after midnight. They gather for a late-night feast featuring oysters, foie gras, and perfectly roasted meats.

Does France believe in Santa Claus?

Santa Claus is 'Père Noël' in France, and on Christmas Eve, he travels around the world handing out presents. The tradition used to be for French children to fill their shoes with carrots for Père Noël's donkey and put them by the fireplace, but today that has been replaced with the Christmas tree.