The French celebrate several of the same holidays as us Americans such as Christmas, Easter, New Years, Halloween, and Valentines Day. Christmas is also a large celebration for the French, it is a time for family and for giving, marked by family gatherings, gifts and candy, gifts for the poor, Midnight Mass, and lots of food and baking. The French Christmas celebrations consist of going to Midnight Mass and celebrating the Christmas Vigil with a festive meal that traditionally includes turkey and Yule log. The French also share the tradition of cutting down an Evergreen tree and placing presents underneath, as well as Father Christmas who brings gifts to children throughout the world on Christmas Eve. A treat that is commonly brought to these celebrations is the macaroon. Macaroons come in an infinite variety of flavors and an explosion of colors and is considered to be one of the jewels of French pastry. Delicate and airy, the French macaroon has an almond, sugar and egg whites-based shell. The shells have a light, crunchy texture on the outside and are slightly chewy on the inside. These shells are held together by a filling, typically made from a ganache butter-cream, meringue or jam. Another well known French pastry is the chocolate buche de Noel or yule log cake. This chocolate buche de Noel cakes is a vanilla Genoise cake rolled into a cylinder with the richest, homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The yule log cake looks and sounds so delicious as well as many other French foods and I cannot wait to learn more about this country and their culture.
I thought it was good how you said how France is similar to America with their holidays while also contrasting the different items of food that are popular during these holidays in France.
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