Traditional Christmas Food in France

Traditional French Dishes for Christmas Eve

Have you heard of réveillon? Réveillon is the holiday meal that the family, or a group of friends, share on Christmas Eve (and on New Years Eve).

Generally, on the night of December 24th, people celebrate le réveillon de Noël, or the Christmas Eve dinner, with family. And the December 31st, people celebrate le réveillon du nouvel an with their friends. That makes these holidays the perfect occasion to try traditional French dishes.

As you probably figured out, in France we celebrate Christmas starting on the evening of Christmas Eve and go late into the night. Or, at least until midnight to wish everyone a “Joyeux Noël!” But until the clock strikes midnight, there’s only one thing to do: eat (and drink).

Let’s look at what a typical Christmas Eve dinner looks like according to French tradition.

What to Offer Your Hosts for Christmas?

Before sitting down to eat, the mood is set by offering a little something to your hosts to thank them and their warm welcome. And in case there wasn’t already enough to eat, the gifts people usually bring are food.

Keep in mind that every French family has their own traditions, and while the examples that follow are fairly common, it’s possible that some people don’t have these traditions.

Flowers or a bottle of wine can also be offered as gifts, but for now let’s focus on food! Here are three examples of traditional Christmas treats you can give to your host.

Les marrons glacés

This first treat is neither hot nor cold, and oddly enough, they aren’t even made out of buckeye nuts like “marrons” implies. In reality, this dessert is made from chestnuts, from the chestnut tree. Despite the difference between these two nuts, French speakers use the term “marrons” to describe two different kinds of nuts, which can cause confusion.

So if you’re planning a trip to the forest to go and pick “marrons,” make sure that what you’re getting is chestnuts and not buckeye nuts (aka horse chestnuts) since they’re poisonous. The primary difference lies in the burr, or the shell that envelops the fruit inside. Chestnut burrs are thornier than buckeye burrs. On top of that, chestnuts have a little tail which the buckeyes are missing.

Now back to our regularly scheduled marrons! To give them their icy look, they’re soaked in a sugar syrup, making them look like the perfect glacial winter fruit.

Back in the day, marrons glacés were widely eaten in southern Europe, and they even saved some people from starvation. At the end of the 19th century, Maison Clément Faugier turned this common winter fruit into a luxury confection for the Christmas season.

Les papillotes

A papillote is a chocolate or fruit paste packaged in festive wrapping paper, typically in a silver or gold paper covered with Christmas colors. This little candy is even more special, because inside the packaging there’s also a small piece of paper that has a quotation or proverb on it.

They’re not as good as the Laffy Taffy jokes, but Uncle Jean-Claude likes his philosophical moment of reading the proverb in front of the family. Check out this short video from Revillon Chocolatier to see how these candies are finished, packaged, and delivered.

Une corbeille de fruits secs

This famous spread of dried fruits can be found in all the supermarkets and in some Christmas markets, as well as some chocolate shops and bakeries. It’s made up of different dried fruits and nuts like dried dates, dried figs, almonds, walnuts, and more. But you can also find exotic fruits, candied fruits, and marzipan-based sweets.

Compared to other goods sold in the Christmas markets, these dried fruit trays stick out! That’s because it’s influence comes from the Mediterranean. And this influence didn’t come about by coincidence. Later in the article, we’ll explain more about where these fruit baskets come from. For now, let’s get started with our traditional French meal.

Traditional French Dishes for Christmas: Appetizers

Time to eat!

Let’s get down to business with the actual meal. Everyone happily sits at the table decorated by the hosts. The holiday dishware was brought out, as well as the beautiful tablecloth that was lying in wait in the closet for a special event like this.

Tradition French appetizers come mostly from the ocean: oysters, smoked salmon, seafood, and scallops are likely on the menu. But that isn’t all because some people serve escargot as well (snails). French people don’t often eat escargot, it’s mostly reserved for Christmas. And to finish out the starters, don’t forget the traditional foie gras.

France is one of the main world producers of foie gras, with regions like the southwest that are particularly renowned for the quality of their product. So it’s no surprise that this luxurious delicacy finds its way onto the Christmas révellion list.

When it comes to drinks, it’s up to you to match your wine to your dish. If you chose seafood, ask for a white whine. For escargot or foie gras, you have the choice between red and white.

Traditional French Dishes for Christmas: Entrées

At this point you’ve already eaten enough just from the appetizers that you could probably stop there, but that’s not the spirit of this traditional French meal!

After a small break “to digest,” it’s time to get back to the actual meal. The main dish is served in the center of the table so that everyone can admire it: a beautiful turkey roasted with chestnuts. Some people prefer capons instead (a type of poultry that’s slightly larger than a chicken), while others prefer wild game. Once again, keep in mind that every family has their own traditions. That being said, tradition dictates that turkey served with chestnuts is distinct in traditional French dishes for Christmas.

To accompany this beautiful bird, you need to cook it with marrons, of course! Which is this case is also referring to chestnuts. But you can also pair it with potatoes, different veggies like green beans or carrots, mushrooms, or even squash! You might even see some cranberries for an additional touch.

And is there wine with all this?

Of course, wine is essential to accompany this delicious dish and nothing beats a good red win. Cheers!

Traditional French Dishes for Christmas: Cheese

At this point in the meal, we’ve unbuttoned our pants, loosened our belts, and we can’t imagine eating another bite no matter what it is. And yet… the cheese being brought out brings everyone back to the table one more time, even those who went to sit for a moment on the couch to “take a break and digest.”

The beauty of France is its culinary diversity. Based on the region where you’re spending the holidays, you’ll be served different local cheese specialties. In the north for example, Maroilles cheeses will be proudly present on every cheese platter in the Hauts-de-France region.

On top of the regional cheeses, you’ll typically also be served the famous Camembert, goat cheese, Comté, Brie, Roquefort, Saint-Nectaire, and maybe even more! It’s definitely called “a cheese board” because it covers an entire cutting board!

To accompany the cheese, you’ll need bread of course! A traditional baguette is the typical go-to, but any type of bread can be served with your cheese (pain de campagne, pain de seigle, pain aux noix, etc.). As long as it’s a good bread that can hold it’s shape, so excluding the sliced bread found in America, then you can’t go wrong.

And to drink? Surprise! We continue with red wine!

Traditional French Dishes for Christmas: Dessert

La bûche

And finally we made it to the last part of the traditional French Christmas dishes: Dessert!

This is what the kids and the foodies have been waiting for. Just like with the other courses of the meal, traditions may vary, but it’s customary to eat a bûche de Noël. A bûche typically means a log of wood, but what does it mean when we’re talking about dessert?

It can actually vary widely depending on where you are: it could be a pastry or ice cream, chocolate or fruit, and vanilla or coffee flavored. Regardless of the flavor, everyone loves them!

To accompany it dessert, we typically switch to champagne. There’s nothing like a little bubbly to round off your meal. Plus, a glass of champagne is the perfect way to toast at the stroke of midnight and wish everyone a “Joyeux Noël.”

For any of you amateur pastry chefs at home who want to try your hand at making this renowned Christmas dessert, check out this this video for instructions. If you follow this recipe by M. Patisserie, you’ll have your own bûche de Noël in no time!

The 13 Desserts in France for Christmas

It’s time to satisfy the curiosity of those who were wondering if we were going to explain the Mediterranean aspect of the dried fruit tradition!

This practice likely took root from the Provencal custom of “the 13 desserts.”

This tradition is anchored in the 18th century in Provence, which is in the south of France, right along the Mediterranean. The idea behind this tradition is to offer thirteen distinct desserts as a way to symbolize Jesus and his twelve apostles during the Christmas dinner.

Here are some examples of those desserts: walnuts, dried figs, raisins, dried dates, or quince paste. But also candied fruits, pompe à huile ou Fougasse (dessert breads), nougat (white, black, or red), calissons (candies) from Aix-en-Provence, or oranges and watermelon.

So offering a basket of dried fruits to your guests actually has a warm meaning behind it, inviting everyone to share this convivial moment together during dessert.

For More Information

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