episode 13 – Les Bookworms Pod

This week Helen and Miranda are switching up the format of Les Bookworms and discussing holiday traditions during the Christmas season in the countries they know the best; France and Canada.

December 6th – La fête de Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicolas is celebrated on the 6th of December. The legend in Lorraine is that as winter approached, three little children were walking in the fields somewhere between Nancy and Metz but they lost their way. They stumbled upon an evil butcher who then cut up the three little kids into pieces and stored them away. Seven years later, Saint Nicolas arrives in the field and finds the butcher. The butcher lets Saint Nicolas in the house to eat, Saint Nicolas finds the pieces of the children and brings them back to life.

*Children often receive little chocolate Saint Nicholas on the 6th*

December 24th – La réveillon

A common French-Canadian tradition is to begin Christmas celebrations on the 24th, beginning with a large dinner of Canadian classics.

A favourite of these classics is Tourtière, a meat pie traditionally using pork, beef and veal with a lard crust. The meat is cooked with onion, clove and black pepper and then baked until the crust is golden perfection. Fillings vary quite a lot across Canada and in more rural areas game meat such as venison or moose is often used instead of beef or veal. Other common dishes can be ragout and ham hock stew.