Article filed in:
Features » Food and Wine » French food for Christmas and New Year | Per on Forbes
Many countries have special food traditions for Christmas. In Sweden, as an example, you have the “julbord”, with a specially prepared ham, special herring, special cabbage, and many other things.
In France, curiously, they don’t really have much special food for Christmas and New Year. Instead they just eat more and better of what one would have for any festive meal at another time of the year. Lots of shellfish, succulent pieces of meat, game of many different types, well-matured cheeses, etcetera.
There are two things that only get a place on Christmas tables though. That is the capon, le chapon, the castrated rooster, and the bûche de noël, the very creamy-buttery Christmas log cake. And also, oysters, enormous amounts of oysters.
On the other hand, thinking about the Swedish Christmas food, it is mostly not really very different from things that you eat at other times of the year, only more and with a slightly different touch to it.
So perhaps the differences are not so great after all. Christmas and New Year is a time to enjoy some of the best, together with people that count for you.
Live lobster from Bretagne (Brittany), a rare luxury, copyright BKWine Photography
Read more on this in Per’s article on Forbes: What The French Eat For Christmas (And New Year) 2017, A Picture Essay.
Here is the introduction:
Going out shopping the days before Christmas is no great pleasure. Crowds everywhere. Going out looking at others doing their shopping can be quite enjoyable. Especially if you do it at food markets in Paris. You can revel in looking at all the goodies knowing that you already have all you need in the fridge at home.
Easier said than done perhaps.
But that’s exactly what we did the two days before Christmas here in Paris. It had a few added benefits. At one food stall they were selling caviar and they gave us a sample of their beluga (Calvisius from northern Italy – delicious). In another shop, they were making a promotion for champagne (of course) so we had a glass of Bollinger Grande Année. In between, we had a bite of belota belota Iberian ham.
One lonely Christmas tree left outside the grocery shop, copyright BKWine PhotographyA shoal of langouste, copyright BKWine PhotographyBouquet shrimps, very luxurious, copyright BKWine PhotographyMadeleine cakes with … black truffles, copyright BKWine PhotographyBig name and small grower champagnes, copyright BKWine PhotographyChampagnes on the shelves at the wine shop, copyright BKWine PhotographyA delicious pineapple gateau from Version Original in Issy les Moulineaux, copyright BKWine PhotographyThe butchers special, home-made foie, that he was very proud of, copyright BKWine PhotographyJuicy entrecote from the butcher, copyright BKWine PhotographyPartridge, ready to go into the oven, copyright BKWine PhotographyChristmas in Paris, Eiffel Tower Sacre Coeur, Ferris Wheel, Les Invalides dome (L to R), copyright BKWine PhotographyBlack perigord truffles, tuber melanosporum, the best, copyright BKWine PhotographyBelota belota Iberian ham, copyright BKWine PhotographySnails, a French classic, but in reality rarely seen, copyright BKWine PhotographyFoie gras, duck, guinea fowl, duck breast…, copyright BKWine PhotographyBirds, capon, turkey, chicken, doves,… are very popular, copyright BKWine PhotographyThe checkout counter line at Le Bon Marche the day before Christmas, copyright BKWine PhotographyIf you don’t want wine you can splash out on water. 50€/bottle for the Bling one, copyright BKWine PhotographyLive oysters can be found all over Paris around Christmas and New Year, copyright BKWine PhotographyLive lobster from Bretagne (Brittany), a rare luxury, copyright BKWine PhotographyFoie gras is usually from duck (canard) but can also be goose (oie), copyright BKWine PhotographyTasting beluga caviar from Calvisius, copyright BKWine PhotographyCheese from cow, goat, sheep, copyright BKWine PhotographyMature and tender cuts of beef at the butcher’s, copyright BKWine PhotographyBig department stores have very elaborate Christmas decorations in the windows, copyright BKWine PhotographyBig department stores have very elaborate Christmas decorations in the windows, copyright BKWine PhotographyBuches de noel, the French Christmas log cake with butter cream filling, copyright BKWine PhotographyBuches de noel, the French Christmas log cake, copyright BKWine PhotographyRoses are pretty at Christmas too, copyright BKWine PhotographyVeal’s hoof, only one left, copyright BKWine PhotographyBeef and veal tongue, some like it very much, copyright BKWine PhotographyBeef jowls and ox tail, much appreciated these days, copyright BKWine PhotographyA mountain of langoustines, copyright BKWine PhotographySea urchins, considered a delicacy by some, copyright BKWine PhotographyA chapon fermier (farmhouse capon), copyright BKWine PhotographyA wide choice of cheese in the world’s best cheese country, copyright BKWine PhotographyA butcher’s shop, copyright BKWine PhotographyOysters and huge langoustes, copyright BKWine PhotographyHard cheese and soft cheese, preferably unpasturised, copyright BKWine PhotographyMany different chevre, goat cheese, preferably unpasturised, copyright BKWine PhotographySome cheese may look odd but they are delicious, copyright BKWine PhotographyVarious clams, sea snails and other shell fish, copyright BKWine PhotographyOysters of different types and sizes, copyright BKWine PhotographyLive lobster from Brittany, copyright BKWine PhotographyFresh scallops, copyright BKWine PhotographyGiant crab claws, copyright BKWine PhotographyBig shrimps, copyright BKWine PhotographyFresh daurade royale, copyright BKWine PhotographyAt the fish monger’s, copyright BKWine PhotographyBig beautiful langouste, copyright BKWine Photography
Chose your language. Read the article in:
Author:
Per Karlsson
Swedish. Per is co-founder together with his wife Britt of BKWine. Rumour has it that his interest in wine started already when he was 11. Just like Britt he visits some 200 wineries each year on wine tours and for journalistic research. He writes about wine primarily online on BKWine Magazine and in the BKWine Brief.
Per is also a professional photographer, specialising in wine and travel photography. See BKWine Photography for more on this. Since a few years back he has also branched out into video production on the same subject. He has contributed all images, and some text, to BKWine’s wine books.
Swedish. Per is co-founder together with his wife Britt of BKWine. Rumour has it that his interest in wine started already when he was 11. Just like Britt he visits some 200 wineries each year on wine tours and for journalistic research. He writes about wine primarily online on BKWine Magazine and in the BKWine Brief.
Per is also a professional photographer, specialising in wine and travel photography. See BKWine Photography for more on this. Since a few years back he has also branched out into video production on the same subject. He has contributed all images, and some text, to BKWine’s wine books.
We use cookies mainly to collect anonymised visitor statistics but also to improve the visitor experience (for example, show and play videos). Not accepting these cookies may limit features and may adversely affect the visitor experience. Full details in our cookie policy and privacy policy (see below).
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
