Food and gastronomy is important in France, perhaps more so than in any other country. People talk about food; people care about the quality of what they buy; there are still open-air food markets even all-around Paris, where people go shopping for fresh food three days a week. Or bread every day.
If all of France is a virtual celebration of good food and quality of life (although some French don’t seem to agree), then the festive season around Christmas and New Year must be considered to be an orgy. Being a foreigner in France, I’d say that there is not really any typical Christmas food (with a few exceptions). Instead, the French celebrate the end of the year by eating a lot of the very best.
Let’s enjoy a celebration in pictures of some of the good things people eat in France at this time of the year.
Lobsters, langoustines, crabs, and langoustes on a food market in France, copyright BKWine … More Photography
BKWine Photography
Seafood
For many people, Christmas without oysters would be impossible. A typical French household buys over nine pounds (four kilos) of oysters in a year. Half of that is consumed over Christmas and New Year. So it is not surprising that there are street sellers of these molluscs outside many cafés at this time of the year.
But They fill up on many other types of seafood, too. Lobsters, with a preference for the black lobster from Normandy, if one can afford it, langoustes, the big spiky bright orange crawler that is called lobster in some countries, the smaller langoustines, scallops, sea urchins, razor clams, gambas sometimes as big as a small lobster, and much, much more.
There are many different kinds of fish, caviar, sea snails, crabs and many I hardly know the name of. If you plan ahead, you place an order with the fishmonger, and they prepare a “plateau” with everything nicely organised and laid on ice that you can put directly on the table.
Oysters of different sizes and types on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Sea urchins and langoustines on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Different kinds of seafood and shellfish on a presentation tray on a food market in France, … More copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
A “vieille bretonne” fish (labrus bergylta, balan wrasse) on a food market in France, copyright … More BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Birds
Birds, fowl, are also often on the table, many different kinds and many different parts of them. This year, there is a scarcity of some types of birds, perhaps due to some bird diseases that have struck parts of the country, so we could not find our traditional pigeon for Christmas Day dinner. Foie gras is a must-have.
One type of fowl is very typical for Christmas: the capon, sometimes replaced by a chicken from Bresse, often wrapped in a traditional cloth. But I have the impression that this tradition has weakened a bit. There seem to be fewer unfortunate male chickens in the shops in recent years.
Duck, quail (and the tiny quail eggs), pheasant, partridge …, and guineafowl, too, but it’s hardly worth a mention since you see so much of it all year round, almost as popular as chicken.
A capon for Christmas on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Two “canettes”, small ducks on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Game birds for Christmas, partridge, pheasant, and quail on a food market in France, copyright … More BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Foie gras from duck on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Vegetables and fruit
Vegetables are a feast all year round in France. We have about a dozen different kinds of tomatoes to choose from in season. But vegetables are perhaps not very seasonal. The mushrooms make a very welcome appearance at the vegetable stands this time of year. Perhaps the most highly regarded one is the “cèpes”, porcini. (In Sweden, they are called Karl Johan mushrooms. I have figured out that this is because Sweden needed a new king in the early nineteenth century, so we imported one from the south of France called Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Marshal of France. In Sweden, he became King Karl XIV Johan. In his native Sud-Ouest, the cèpe is a highly regarded delicacy, but not so, at the time, in Sweden. But since the new king liked them, it became trendy, and they were given the king’s name. At least, this is my personal theory.) There are plenty of ”girolles” (called chanterelles in some other countries), chanterelles (which are not the same as the English chanterelle), trumpets of death, “pied de mouton” (foot of the sheep) and others. And, of course (!), truffles. France, too, is a big truffles country.
Many different mushrooms, girolles, chanterelles, pied de mouton on a food market in France, … More copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Delicious “grenaille” potatoes on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
A very small part of what a vegetable and fruit seller has on offer on a food market in France, … More copyright BKWine Photography
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French black truffles, tuber melanosporum, and white truffles from Alba, tuber magnatum pico, on a … More food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Meat
There will undoubtedly be some excellent pieces of meat also served sometimes during the festive season. The French are very keen on their meat and are also very picky as to how it is prepared. Even in the simplest restaurant they will ask you how you want it cooked. Anything from blue (very rare), to bien cuit (well-done; to be avoided, most French will tell you. With good reason).
Various cuts of French beef on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Entrecôte and faux-filet, two cuts of French beef on a food market in France, copyright BKWine … More Photography
BKWine Photography
Cheese
Cheese is a must for any serious French meal, but it is not (not at all!) particularly Christmasy. Nevertheless, it is essential. “How can you govern a country with 365 cheeses?” someone is supposed to have said. Perhaps Général de Gaulle, perhaps Napoleon. But probably it is a myth.
France has much more than 365 different kinds of cheese. In our local cheese shop, there are more than half a dozen different Roqueforts, and when I say Roquefort, it’s not just any blue cheese. They really do come from the appellation Roquefort. In addition, there are probably twenty other types of blue cheese, including imported Stilton and even Shropshire (delicious!). Many French cheeses have a specific geographic denomination and must be made according to certain traditions. So, if it says Swiss Cheese, it certainly comes from Switzerland.
There are cow milk cheeses, sheep milk cheeses and, of course, the famous goat cheeses called chèvre. When you shop, they ask you how you want the cheese (soft, hard, young, old,…) and often also when you are going to eat it. A Camembert to serve today is different from one you’ll eat next week.
And just to be clear, the cheese is served after the main course and before dessert. Cheese is not a replacement for dessert.
All in all, France is, without a doubt, the world’s best cheese country.
Different goat cheeses, chevres, on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
A selection of French cheeses, Roquefort (sheep), Langres (cow), 24 months old comte’ (cow), and … More chevre (goat), copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Cakes and dessert
One of the few things that are genuinely and only for Christmas is the “bûche de noël” (yule log), a rolled-up sponge cake vaguely resembling a log, usually filled with very creamy and buttery (oh, la, la) filling. These days, it can take the most fanciful colours and shapes. Personally, I think it is a good thing we are spared this for the rest of the year. The French bakers and confectionaries can make so much better things.
A “buche de noel”, Christmas cake, on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Small cakes at a baker’s on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
What about the snails and frog legs?
Yes, what about the snail and frog legs? This is often what foreigners think are the emblematic French dishes. In fact, it is something one rarely sees, even in restaurants. You can find snails in traditional restaurants, especially with a Burgundian touch, but frog legs… I think the times I have seen them on the menu are less than what can be counted on one hand.
—Per Karlsson
Snails with garlic butter on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography
Frog legs on a food market in France, copyright BKWine Photography
BKWine Photography