Treize desserts
The Treize Desserts (“Thirteen Desserts ”) or Calenos are part of the Provencal Christmas tradition . These are the desserts at the end of the Gros Souper , which is held on Christmas Eve. The type of desserts is based on ancient tradition, however the number 13 is a modern creation. It possibly refers to a good luck function or to Jesus and his twelve disciples .
background
The Treize desserts are usually a combination of dark and light nougat , a pompe à l'huile d'olive or a fougasse à la fleur d'oranger (pastries, bread), dates , quatre mendiants (“the four beggars” as representatives of the Religious communities : walnuts and hazelnuts for the Augustinians , figs for the Franciscans , almonds for the Carmelites and raisins for the Dominicans ), sugar melon (Melon Vert), grapes, apple and pear puree or fruit jelly , Corsican oranges and / or clementines, prunes , Walnuts , apples , pears , calissons or candied chestnuts , fruit jelly or fruit confectionery. To this end, vin cuit de Provence drank a kind of cider made dessert wine .
history
Mediterranean tradition
While the number 13 gives the tradition its specific Provençal character, the desserts of the Gros Souper fall back on traditions that are also found in other Mediterranean cultures. The opulent accumulation of sweets found, for example, with the Sephardim on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah , where figs, almonds, raisins and Turrado ( nougat ) are served.
The ancient Greeks in Egypt also brought similar sweets to the table at the turn of the year and in Catalonia Christmas is celebrated in a very similar way with touron , dried fruits and pastries made from marzipan , honey and spices. In Languedoc -like desserts, only the cooked wine is Carthagène replaced, a fortified wine. Tradition wants everything to stay in its place after the meal and even the crumbs to be left on the table. This is supposed to help the unsaved spirits that roam the houses in search of food. The Armenians of Marseilles also practice this custom. On the Armenian Christmas, January 6th, they serve up the Treize desserts with their own dishes.
- Les Calenos
Until the 1920s there were no texts about Provencal desserts for Christmas. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the calenos have occasionally been described, which were praised for their fullness and sweetness.
François Marchetti, parish priest in Marseille , wrote of these desserts in 1683 in his Explication des usages et coutumes des Marseillais , but without naming a number. He speaks of dried and fresh fruits and the pompe à l'huile that people are entertained with in the days before Christmas. But he explains more about the use of three white napkins to cover the table on which thirteen loaves are laid out. The twelve smaller ones represent the twelve apostles and the larger one stands for Jesus Christ .
Between 1783 and 1787, Laurent Pierre Bérenger published his Soirées provençales (Provencal evenings) or Lettres de M. Bérenger écrites à ses amis pendant ses voyages dans sa patrie (letters from M. Berenger to his friends during his travels through the homeland). He used a chapter on De Noël's desserts , of which he made a list. He mentions figs, grapes, raisins, prunes from Brignoles , oranges , apples, pears, cédrats, confits , biscuits , nougat, but even he does not mention any fixed number.
In the 1820s, the Prefect Christophe de Villeneuve-Bargemon compiled the Statistique du département des Bouches-du-Rhône . One of his goals was to present the customs of the department. For the first time in literature he speaks of a gros soup and the calenos . These are described as "desserts which, depending on the family's fortunes, turn out to be more or less rich and consist of cakes, dried fruits, jams, biscuits and sugar, pompes and chestnuts".
The role of the "Félibres"
In 1854 , the seven félibres met at Font-Ségugne , near Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne , at their “chef de file” Frédéric Mistral . They had set themselves the goal of not only preserving and reviving the langue provençale , but also preserving the identity of Provence through its festivals and customs. Mistral never gave the number of desserts on Christmas Eve. But one of his pupils, François Mazuy, edited the Félibrige Chronicles on the customs of Marseille in the year it was founded. He records the rituals of the Fêtes Calendales , lively explains the customs of the gros supper and numbers the desserts. Figs, raisins, almonds, nuts, pears, oranges, chestnuts, nougat and vin cuit can be found in his records.
In 1885 a chronicler, Edmond de Catelin (called Stephen d'Arvre ) wrote that “the gros supper is nothing more than a legend”. When he comes to the richly laden table, he records a fixed number for the first time.
At the beginning of the 20th century the fashion of organizing nostalgic Provençal Christmas parties emerged. But even there, the festive menus rarely record the number of de Noël's desserts . In 1903, for example, Thomas A. Janvier published the book The Christmas Kalends of Provence . He describes a gros supper to which he was invited in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and explains the abundance of dishes and the tradition that requires "at least seven deserts to be served for this event."
- distribution
Treize desserts were first mentioned in 1925. In a Christmas edition of the journal La Pignato , Doctor Joseph Fallen from Aubagne , a chairman of Félibrige, wrote: “There are a lot of delicacies, of delicacies that Treize desserts: must to be thirteen, yes, thirteen, no more if you will, but not one less either. "
At the beginning of his list are the pachichòis (also: Quatre mendiants = "four beggars": figs, almonds, nuts and raisins), which are served, among other things, to prepare the nougat du pauvre (nougat des capucins). This is followed by hazelnuts, pistachios and Raisin Muscat (muscatel grapes). Next come sorbes (rowan berries?), Dates, apples, pears, oranges and, lastly, a melon, "slightly wrinkled". The list is completed by Grappes de Clairette, Confiture, L'Eau de Coing (“ Quince Water”), chestnuts and Vin Cuit. Only then do the traditional desserts come: the pompe à l'huile d'olive , the fougasse , the oreillettes ( choux pastry ), nougats blanc , noir & rouge , biscuits and sugar products (sucreries) and even cheese.
The following year, the novelist Marie Gasquet wrote in Une enfance provençale : “Noël needs thirteen desserts, thirteen plates of sweets, twelve for the products of the country, the garden, the thirteenth much nicer, full of dates”.
In the early 1930s, the Musée du Terroir Marseillais dedicated a room to the Repas de Noël ; at this time the tradition began to establish itself. And in 1946, Tounin Virolaste , chronicler of Armana prouvençau , while referring to Museon Arlaten, reports that Frédéric Mistral never served more than eleven desserts on the table of the Gros Souper. He continues, “In County Venaissin , people always want thirteen, and certainly in other areas too. It will be thirteen! ”Thus the tradition of the Comtat Venaissin had prevailed.
Cinquante-cinq Variétés (55 variations)
The composition varies depending on the region, place and family. Therefore one counts 55 variations. Nevertheless, there is a temptation to set certain desserts as canon. In addition, the tradition is also being commercialized, as can be seen from a campaign by four associations from Aix-en-Provence that have published a list of de treize desserts as a reference.
Even the list of the Musée des Arts et Traditions populaires du Terroir marseillais is only a guide.
Table of the Gros Souper with the three floors and the Treize desserts.
Les treize desserts en Provence
This list includes: Pompe à l'Huile (pòmpa a l'òli) or Fougasse d'Aigues Mortes à la fleur d'oranger , Quatre mendiants (walnuts and hazelnuts, figs, almonds and raisins), apples, pears, le Verdaù (Green melon), nougat noir & nougat blanc, Cormier (Sorbes) and fresh grapes. In addition, mandarins , confectionery ( chocolate , fruit confits, calissons), pâte de coing (quince confectionery) or other pâtes de fruits , bugnes ( beignet ), oreillettes and always dates, as the only exotic fruit and a reminder of the flight to Egypt (The " O “, which can be seen on the core, is supposed to remind of the exclamation of Mary , Joseph and Jesus when they ate the fruit in Egypt.) The nougat is supposed to remind of the three kings .
Other variations: Tourtes, Raisins de Saint-Jeannet , Brignoles plums (Pignolats), Cédrats confits , Confitures de fruit au moût de raisin , Galettes au lait parfumées with fennel and caraway seeds , and the notorious cachat .
Gourmets make the “nougat du pauvre” by placing a nut in a dried fig or date. Lanterns are made from tangerine or orange peels, which are placed on the Christmas crib and exude a pleasant scent.
literature
- Brigitte Brégeon-Poli: La Fabrication des saints. Va pour treize! In: Revue Terrain No. 24. 1995 ( terrain.revues.org ).
- Brigitte Poli: Les treize desserts provençaux: Une coutume en mouvement. Librairie contemporaine, Montfaucon 2002, ISBN 2-905405-24-4 .
- René Husson: Les 13 desserts en Provence. Saint-Affrique, Fleurines 2010, ISBN 978-2-912690-21-0 .
Web links
- Les treize desserts provençaux on NotreProvence.fr
- French cuisine blog .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carcassonne - les treize desserts . Come on dessèrts mescladis.free.fr
- ↑ a b c Brigitte Poli: Les 13 desserts provençaux. Une coutume en mouvement . Librairie contemporaine, Montfaucon 2002, ISBN 2-905405-24-4 , p. 9-10 .
- ↑ régalent les gens les deux derniers jours avant Noël
- ↑ Brigitte Poli: Les 13 desserts provençaux. Une coutume en mouvement. Pp. 11-17.
- ↑ Desserts plus ou moins splendides selon l'aisance des familles, qui consistent en gâteaux, fruits secs, confitures, biscuits et sucreries, pompes et châtaignes qui ne manquent jamais
- ↑ Le gros souper n'est plus qu'à l'état de legende. "Brigitte Brégeon-Poli: " Va pour treize! " In: Terrain, Anthropologie & sciences humaines, No. 24: 145-152, March 1, 1995 ISSN 0760-5668 doi: 10.4000 / terrain.3127
- ^ "Des plats réglementaires et des douze desserts obligatoires
- ↑ Exige qu'un minimum de sept desserts soit servi
- ↑ « Voici une quantité de friandises, de gourmandises, les treize desserts: il en faut treize, oui treize, pas plus si vous voulez, mais pas un de moins. »Brigitte Poli: Les 13 desserts provençaux. Une coutume en mouvement. Pp. 20-25. librairie contemporaine 2002, ISBN 2-905405-24-4 .
- ↑ le dernier melon un peu ridé
- ↑ « Il faut treize desserts, treize assiettes de friandises, douze qui versent les produits du pays, du jardin, la treizième beaucoup plus belle, remplie de dattes. »
- ↑ Dans le Comtat Venaissin, le peuple veut qu'il y en ait treize, et sûrement dans d'autres endroits aussi. Va pour treize!
- ↑ Direction de la Culture Service Affaires Provençale: Les 13 desserts. In: Traditions de Noël en Provence. 2007. mairie-aixenprovence.fr (PDF) p. 8.
- ↑ " Valider une liste qui fait désormais foi et doit contribuer à éviter of erreurs et autres aberrations. »
- ↑ René Husson: Les 13 desserts en Provence. Fleurines éditions, 2010, ISBN 978-2-912690-21-0 ( books.google.fr ).