Le Réveillon comes from réveiller – to wake (hence reveille being the morning bugle call to wake up the troops), and is a symbolic spiritual awakening… as well as an end to the day-long fast traditionally associated with Christmas Eve.
The feast usually consists of a succession of dishes, both hot and cold. While there are regional variants, most follow the pattern of hot (escargots, consommé, scallops), cold (oysters, pâté, smoked salmon), hot (turkey, chestnuts), cold (cheese, Yule log), and of course, Champagne.
Regional variations:
Alsace – goose, roast carp, gingerbread, bredele (heart and star-shaped spiced Christmas cookies).
Bordeaux – grilled sausages.
Brittany – buckwheat cakes with sour cream.
Drôme – cardoon and marrow gratin.
Lorraine – black pudding, waffles.
Provence – fish, olives, thirteen desserts consisting of fruit, the four beggars*, candies, and breads.
Northern France – coquille; a raisin-decorated brioche, which is served with salted butter and chocolate (for dipping the bread into). Despite its name (coquille means ‘shell’), this bread is often shaped to resemble a swaddled Baby Jesus.
Southern France – le pain calendal; a Christmas loaf with a cross shape cut into it, part of which is given to the less fortunate.
No matter where you are in France, after le Réveillon, you will see people leaving candles in their windows in order to light the way for the Virgin Mary in case she happens to pass by.
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*The four beggars represent different religious orders who have taken vows of poverty:
- walnuts or hazelnuts for the Augustinians
- dried figs for the Franciscans
- almonds for the Carmelites
- raisins for the Dominicans