For many people that celebrate Christmas, the festivities begin on Christmas morning when they discover and open the presents left by Santa. But for many French-Canadians, the festivities start the evening before with a celebration known as Réveillon.
Having grown up fairly removed from my French Canadian roots, I've done a lot of digging over the past few years into the culture and traditions of my ancestors. Through this digging, I discovered a lot of different holiday traditions. I learned that Christmas in particular is very rich in tradition for French Canadian families. The traditional celebration of Réveillon immediately caught my interest, and today, I'm going to share some of the knowledge I have acquired over time.
The Tradition
The name Réveillon comes from the French word ‘réveil’, which means ‘to wake up’. The celebration is named as such because its origins lie in the 18th and 19th century French Catholic practice of attending midnight mass. Seeing Christmas as a primarily religious holiday rather than a commercial one, the French Catholics believed it important to be in church the moment Christmas day began. After the service was over, they would return home and hold a feast until the morning.
Food is a main component of French Canadian culture. As such, it has always been a main focus of the traditional Réveillon. In the 18th and 19th centuries, food was very scarce for those that were less fortunate, and French Canadians were significantly less fortunate than their Anglophile counterparts. As such, a ‘feast’ back then would have been much smaller than what we are used to today. However, as food became less scarce and more families could afford it, Réveillon feasts became much larger and more elaborate.
In the 20th century, the tradition of attending midnight mass became much less common and many churches decided to hold ‘midnight’ mass at much earlier hours. Thus, the traditional Réveillon celebration became less popular and widespread. Near the end of the century, however, restaurants began serving Réveillon dinners at more reasonable times that accommodated common ‘midnight’ mass times and the tradition began to rise in popularity again. More recently, families have resumed holding Réveillon feasts at home, as they did in the early days of the celebration.
Although the structure of the tradition Réveillon celebration has been adjusted and adapted over time, food has maintained its importance to the celebration.
The Food
There is no set menu associated with Réveillon, but there are a few main dishes that are fairly universal:
- Tourtière
- Ragoût de Boulettes
- Ragôut de Pattes de Cochon
- Bûche de Noël
Tourtière
Tourtière is arguably the most famous French Canadian Christmas dish. Tourtière originated in the Canadian province of Quebec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, almost 100 years before the first documentation of Réveillon in the 18th century.
Tourtière is a double crusted meat pie traditionally made with minced pork, veal, or beef. Wild game, such as rabbit, pheasant, or moose can also be included in the mixture. Along with the meat, the filling typically includes potatoes, onions, garlic, and a variety of spices.
The traditional Tourtière varies greatly from its modern counterpart. Traditionally, the meat and potatoes used for the filling would have been cut into small pieces with a knife, but many modern recipes call for ground meat and mashed potatoes. The recipe for the pastry itself also varies greatly today. While butter is commonly used to create the pastry today, lard would have been the primary fat used in traditional pastry recipes, due to the scarcity of butter.
Ragoût de Boulettes
Ragoût de boulettes is another very well-known French Canadian dish that is traditionally associated with Réveillon. ‘Ragoût de boulettes’ is a French term that directly translates to ‘meatball stew’. Traditionally the dish is made using pork meatballs. Much like Tourtière, the dish is very heavily spiced, typically with cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and dry mustard powder.
Ragoût de Pattes de Cochon
Most French Canadians in the early days of Réveillon were generally less fortunate than English speaking Canadians, which is reflected in many of their dishes. Pork hock, the joint between the foot and leg of the pig – what we might call the pig’s ankle – is a very inexpensive meat. It is the main ingredient in ‘ragoût de pattes de cochon’, which translates to ‘pig’s feet stew’. While pork hock is typically a very tough piece of meat, it becomes tender and flavorful when slow cooked.
Bûche de Noël
Dessert is also an important part of Réveillon, and while the 19th century dessert of choice was homemade donuts served with jam, the modern-day favorite is the Bûche de Noël.
‘Bûche de Noël’ is a French term that directly translates to ‘Christmas Log’. It is often referred to in English as a Yule Log. Its roots date back to pagan rites of the medieval times. Families would place a log of wood in their hearth and light it on Christmas Eve. It would then have to burn for at least three days, although ideally until the New Year, in order to bring luck and good fortune. Eventually, this tradition died out and the Yule Log was reinvented as a dessert.
The traditional Bûche de Noël is a thinly rolled sponge cake filled with jam or cream and covered with buttercream icing. Typically, chocolate or coffee buttercream is used to resemble the color of a log. It is also typically decorated with leaves made from icing and meringue mushrooms to further resemble a log.
Sources:
Chapman, Sasha. “Tourtière.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 May 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/tourtiere.
Chatelaine. “French-Canadian Holiday Menu.” Chatelaine, St. Joseph Communications, 19 Dec. 2013, www.chatelaine.com/recipes/menus/french-canadian-holiday-menu/.
Kitts, Daniel. “Why French-Canadians Kick Off Christmas With an All-Night Feast.” TVO.org, The Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVO), 29 Oct. 2020, www.tvo.org/article/why-french-canadians-kick-off-christmas-with-an-all-night-feast.
Leger, Christine. “Canadian Christmas Traditions : How to Celebrate Christmas in Canada.” Tapped Out Travellers, Tapped Out Travellers, 12 Dec. 2016, tappedouttravellers.com/canada/christmas-canada-traditions/.
Peyton, Gabby. “Iconic Canadian Food: Tourtière - Canada's Meat Pie.” Food Bloggers of Canada, Food Bloggers of Canada, 22 Mar. 2018, www.foodbloggersofcanada.com/tourtiere-canadas-meat-pie/.
Rose, Lucie. “Beyond Brioche: The History and Tradition of La Bûche De Noël.” Frenchly.us, French Morning Media Group, 15 Dec. 2015, frenchly.us/beyond-brioche-la-buche-de-noel/.
“A Traditional Quebecois Christmas Dinner!” EC Montreal Blog, EC English Language Centres, 18 Dec. 2017, www.ecenglish.com/en/social/blog/montreal/2017/12/18/traditional-quebecois-christmas-dinner.
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