French Food Friday......Thirteen desserts
Les treize desserts de Noel is a Christmas time must for every home in Provence. Be creative and lay these thirteen ingredients out in an appetizing spread for your guests to pick at after your meal.
Ingredients
• Raisins
• Dried figs
• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Dates
• Apples
• Pears
• Oranges
• Dark nougat
• Light nougat
• Marzipan
• Brioche
• Fortified wine
Lay these thirteen desserts out on a table from Christmas Eve to December 27, in the Provencal tradition.
The thirteen treats stand in for Christ and his 12 apostles. The first four on the list represent the mendicant monastic orders: Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustines, respectively.
The dates represent the safe journey from the east. The two types of nougat, which you can substitute white and dark fudge for, represent good and evil. The fortified wine represents Christ himself. According to Provencal tradition, you must sample each of the thirteen desserts if you hope to experience good luck in the coming year.
Bonne fin de semaine a tous.....Leeann x
I love to read about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries. The above mentioned is such a nice tradition and so different. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post! I knew about the thirteen desserts but not all the details about the dates etc. Merci!
ReplyDeletehttp://missbbobochic.blogspot.com/
I knew about the desserts, but not their meaning. How interesting.
ReplyDeleteBon weekend!
So interesting! Learning about traditions in other countries is so fun, I think. Thank you for teaching me something new today! :)
ReplyDeleteBonjour Leeann,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this tradition of the Thirteen Desserts.
Such a lovely idea - I bought the light nougat the other day and may try this.
Happy week
Hugs
Carolyn