{"id":15547,"date":"2019-12-11T19:32:41","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T19:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devourparisfoodtours.com\/?p=3069"},"modified":"2024-03-06T18:59:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T18:59:37","slug":"french-christmas-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devourtours.com\/blog\/french-christmas-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"Typical French Christmas Foods to Enjoy This Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Devoid of a feast-focused holiday like Thanksgiving, France pulls out all the stops at Christmastime, with a multi-course meal and more than enough traditional French Christmas foods to enjoy during the festivities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Here is just a touch of what you can expect on the table at Christmas time in Paris and beyond. These French Christmas foods are what make the season truly memorable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you’re planning to travel to Paris, or anywhere else in France, make sure to enjoy all the magic of the holiday season with these exquisite plates that transport everyone to a place of joy and celebration, the French way.<\/p>\r\n

\"French
Christmas is a magical time in France, and it comes with delicious foods. Photo credit: Cyril Gervais<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n

French Christmas market foods<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Christmas markets<\/span><\/a> play host to a ton of holiday specialties in France, and in the days leading up to Christmas, they may be the best places to sample some of these goodies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Roasted chestnuts are a great snack to carry around the market to warm up cold fingers, as is <\/span>mulled wine<\/span><\/a>: a concoction of red wine simmered with spices and sometimes spiked with brandy or kirsch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"woman
Mulled wine is the best of both worlds: it keeps you warm and tastes delicious. Photo credit: Alisa Anton<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Heartier delicacies include <\/span>apr\u00e8s-ski<\/span><\/i> fare (apr\u00e8s-ski<\/em> literally means \u2018after skiing\u2019, so evocative!): <\/span>tartiflette<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>raclette<\/span><\/i> both pair gooey melted cheese with potatoes and charcuterie, and can be found served out of huge pans at many Christmas markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The markets may also sell a few remaining <\/span>calendriers de l\u2019Avent<\/span><\/i>. These calendars traditionally contain one chocolate candy for each day of December, though versions boasting everything from cosmetics to beer have been released by different companies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Speaking of beer, Christmas markets are also a phenomenal place to enjoy a Christmas brew to pair with your French Christmas foods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Often richly flavored and occasionally spiced, these special edition beers are released by brewers every year leading up to the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"melted
Gooey raclette is a cheese lover\u2019s dream come true. Photo credit: Ellena McGuinness<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Christmas meal<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

The Christmas meal in France generally takes place on December 24 and it\u2019s a multi-course extravaganza showing off the best of French <\/span>terroir<\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Appetizers may include oysters, foie gras, smoked salmon or escargots, accompanied by Champagne or good white wine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The main event is generally roast poultry\u2014turkey or capon\u2014served with chestnuts or even truffles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A cheese course follows, which may feature seasonal cheeses like rich <\/span>Brillat-Savarin<\/span><\/a> with a layer of truffles, or nutty Comt\u00e9 aged 36 or 42 months.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"escargot
If you\u2019ve never had escargot, don\u2019t knock it till you\u2019ve tried it\u2014especially if it makes an appearance on the Christmas table. Photo credit: Ruslan Khmelevsky<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Time for dessert!<\/h2>\r\n

The meal culminates in the typical French Christmas dessert: a <\/span>b\u00fbche de No\u00ebl<\/span><\/i>, or yule log cake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The <\/span>b\u00fbche<\/span><\/i> can either be made with a rolled genoise cake decorated with buttercream and marzipan mushrooms, or a glazed ice cream concoction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some families make their own <\/span>b\u00fbches<\/span><\/i>, while others enlist the help of local <\/span>p\u00e2tissiers, <\/span><\/i>hard at work for months to perfect their recipe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If guests have any space left, they might enjoy a mandarin or tangerine at the very end of the meal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"buche
When it comes to festive desserts, you can\u2019t get more French than a b\u00fbche de No\u00ebl. Photo credit: Jebulon<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Beyond Paris: regional specialties<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

While you\u2019ll find variations on the above throughout the country, some regions have their own culinary specialties that they enjoy around the holidays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In parts of eastern France, <\/span>pain d\u2019\u00e9pices<\/span><\/i><\/a>,<\/span> or gingerbread spiked with honey, is common. In Alsace, you\u2019ll even find this sweet, rich bread served with foie gras.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"pain
Taste a delicious pain d’epices<\/em> to taste that sweet Christmas flavor. Photo credit: Jr R<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

In Ard\u00e8che, meanwhile, chestnuts take center stage. Candied and glazed chestnuts are a popular sweet to savor in the days leading up to and following Christmas festivities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Provence, Christmas is synonymous with the <\/span>13 desserts<\/span><\/a>: a combination of different nuts, dried fruits, and other confections that represents Jesus and the 12 apostles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The exact combination will vary according to the region and even to the family, but often includes almond <\/span>calissons<\/span><\/i><\/a> from Aix, dried plums from Brignoles, nougat from Mont\u00e9limar, and more.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"calissons
Tasty and beautiful, you can\u2019t leave Provence without trying the calissons<\/em>. Photo credit: Jean-Louis Zimmermann<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Delicious French holiday flavors<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Whether you\u2019re enjoying the busy city life of Paris during the holidays, or exploring other regions of France, you\u2019ll enjoy the festive flavors of French Christmas Foods.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Enjoy the city, walk around the Christmas markets with a mullet wine, find a cheese you\u2019ll remember forever, try out the escargot. You may also want to add some time to see as much of <\/span>Paris in a Day<\/span><\/a> as possible with our tour, or the sweet <\/span>Paris Pastry and Chocolate Tour<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you\u2019re planning to visit Bordeaux, you must add the <\/span>Ultimate Food Tour<\/span><\/a> to your list and let us take care of your itinerary.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are confident that these delicious French Christmas foods will make you feel festive and cozy, let us know what are your favorites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"family
Get ready for the holidays with these delicious French specialties. Photo credit: Nicole Michalou<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Update Notice: This post was updated on December 07, 2023.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Devoid of a feast-focused holiday like Thanksgiving, France pulls out all the stops at Christmastime, with a multi-course meal and more than enough traditional French Christmas foods to enjoy during the festivities.\u00a0 Here is just a touch of what you can expect on the table at Christmas time in Paris and beyond. These French Christmas [...]","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":15556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1329,1330],"tags":[34,252,1340,185],"ppma_author":[2370],"class_list":["post-15547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink-in-paris","category-paris-blog","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-markets","tag-french-food","tag-sweets"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDevour Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This holiday season, you won't want to miss out on these French Christmas foods. 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