Audrey

Before wrapping up the holidays, there is one final occasion the French take to eat and rejoice: the Fête des Rois, or “Feast of the Kings.” Set on January 6, the day of the Epiphany (honoring the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem), this celebration involves eating a Galette des rois, or king cake—two circles of buttery puff pastry filled with sweet, creamy frangipane—in which a trinket, called a fève, has been hidden.

Don’t look for any restaurant recommendations in this article, as there will unfortunately be none. When I visited Toulouse last week, France had just lifted a national lockdown amid the covid-19 pandemic and kept some important restrictions in place: all restaurants and bars were shutdown, as were museums, cinemas and theatres.

After a festive or comforting meal, a fruit salad is always a welcome ending on a lighter and more refreshing note – even in the Winter! This Winter Fruit Salad plays with in-season fruits: pears, apples, clementines, kiwis and pomegranate seeds. This is a colorful, vitamin-packed mix of sweet flavors and crisp textures, that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Braised Rabbit with Prunes (Lapin aux Pruneaux) is a great classic dish from the French repertoire. Delicate rabbit meat gets braised in white wine with salty bacon and sweet prunes –beloved by the French- to create a deliciously rich, thick and slightly sticky sauce. This succulent combination of sweet and salty flavors is quite unique in French cuisine, which makes this dish very memorable. 

Rye flour, a good amount of honey and a unique spice blend are the key components of a great Classic French Spiced Bread – also known as Pain d’Épices. This cross between a cake and a bread is a holiday staple in France. It can be found on most Christmas market stalls, sold in big slabs. It is also a favorite to make amongst home bakers as it is a really simple recipe that makes the house smell wonderful. This is a perfect crowd pleaser for the Holidays.

In France, a proper Christmas dinner wouldn’t be complete without the traditional Bûche de Noël. This wooden log look-a-like cake, traditionally made of a rolled-up Génoise cake frosted with Chocolate buttercream, is part of the official conclusion to a Christmas feast. A holiday ritual no one will pass on – even with an overfilled belly. 

If there’s one French Holiday cookie recipe to have in your repertoire, this is the one. These Butter sablés from the Alsace region, known as “butterbredele”, are the most common cut-out cookies made and enjoyed over the Holidays in France. They are buttery, subtly flavored with lemon zest and satisfyingly crisp yet sandy.

Known as “Harengs Pommes à l’Huile”, this traditional Pickled Herring and Potato Salad is a classic Bistro starter in France. The tang of the pickled herrings compliments the creaminess of simple boiled potatoes, all bound together with a tangy red onion vinaigrette. This humble dish is often served during Winter as it is nutritious, packed with good fats from the fish and very satisfying. This is a quick, easy and affordable recipe to recreate at home. I love to make it when I yearn for a satisfying yet healthy-ish starter …

Holiday baking season has officially started! So let’s make a delicious batch of Linzele cookies (also known as “Boules de Linz”). These little Holiday treats are a specialty from Alsace, France – a region that has an extensive repertoire of Holiday cookies.

Known in French as “croquants”, these little twice-baked cookies may remind you of the Italian biscotti, but I promise they are French through and through. They are very popular in the South of France, and especially in Provence, where almonds grow abundantly. Just like biscotti, they are quick and easy to assemble, cut cross-ways and twice baked for an incomparable crispness. And they are very hard to stop at one!