Yesterday was Mardi Gras, Ramadan and Lunar New Year. Quite the holiday!
We had one of our neighbors over for dinner and she brought over bugnes lyonnaises (angel wings) for us all to share. These crunchy pastries are a special offering for Mardi Gras, which got me thinking about other special pastries that we’ve had here in France.
It’s a blessing and a curse that you can eat just about anything at anytime in the US. We expect to find everything from apples to mangos at all times of the year. Here in France, you can still buy avocados in February, but the emphasis is heavily skewed towards local and seasonal products. For example, the Wednesday market on our plaza is reserved for local producers only.
(The Sunday market is a free-for-all).
Seasonality extends into the treats that we consume in France as well.
At Christmastime, the local pâtisseries had windows full of Bûches de Nöel. These are swiss-roll style cakes that are decorated to look like yule logs. They’re supposed to be good luck… and they’re also delicious. After Christmas, they basically disappear.
In January, Galettes des Rois were everywhere. These are flaky pastries with a frangipane filling. There’s a “fève” baked inside of each galette. It used to be a bean, but now it’s a little figurine. The person who finds the fève is the king or queen and they get to wear a paper crown for the rest of the day.
Traditionally, the youngest person at the gathering sits under the table and decides who gets each piece of the galette. Ostensibly, this is so nobody can see which piece has the fève in it and cheat. Although I’ve been told by more than one local that they often put aside the winning plate so that the littles can win.
We had a small galette as a family and Lilian had a lot of fun sitting under the table and directing pastry traffic. Then, we had some friends over about a week later and the youngest kid had to be coaxed into doing it. We didn’t know that grownups sometimes “cheat,” so nobody found the fève. We sent his family home with the leftovers (and a paper crown) and he was super excited when he “found” it the next day.
I think just about every gathering that we went to in mid-January featured a Galette des Rois. And then, as the month waned, they also disappeared.
I asked our neighbor what the next special dessert is, but apparently we’re in a slow pastry season until Easter. I guess that’s what we get for living in an ostensibly Catholic country. Easter will be similar to back in the US, with chocolate eggs and bunnies. It’s also the one time of the year that the French will eat lamb (at least according to our neighbor).
We do get some seasonal treats back in the US. I mean, it would be pretty weird to eat candy canes in August. And cadbury mini eggs are my favorite thing about Easter. But, we also tend to have our holidays extend well past their intended date ranges.
(Christmas displays in October, anyone?)
You get some of that here, but for the most part, holidays really are seasonal. They’ve imported some American holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. But, those are mostly limited to a few days of displays in the pâtisseries and a few folks dressing up.
(We also get special choreography workshops at my local aerials studio!)
I really like the idea of letting special things stay special.
Of course, you won’t find us subsisting on root vegetables and canned goods during the winter. I appreciate seasonality, but you gotta enjoy the perks of living in a society, right?
What are some things that you appreciate all the more for them being time limited?
