Christmas in Provence: The 13 Desserts

In Provence there is a special Christmas culinary tradition.

In Provence there is a special Christmas culinary tradition. Family and friends share 13 simple local delicacies at the end of the Christmas Eve dinner. Curious? Follow us as we tell you about this quite recent, but catchy, Provencal custom.

The story begins at the foot of Mount Garlaban in the town of Aubagne … and always finishes in our plates!

In Provence, connecting religious symbolism to food has always been an important part of Christmas. So at the beginning of the XXth century a group of townsfolk in Aubagne decided to pair up a selection of 13 regional desserts as representations of Christ and the 12 apostles. The point was to highlight the delightful local specialties and imbue them with religious significance while also showing family and friends that you were wealthy enough and/or well organized enough to make it through winter with ease, and thus could share your bounty with your holiday guests. The desserts are presented and eaten on Christmas eve and the leftovers stay on the table for the next 3 days. Everyone picks from the table what they like. 

Now, how about we discover what they are?

A long list of magical delicacies!

The list of 13 elements is not precise. But there are 6 that you’ll be sure to find on the table each time. Of these 6 specific desserts, 4 represent religious orders: nuts or hazelnuts (Augustinians), dried figs (Franciscans), almonds (Carmes) and raisins (Dominicans).

And 2 are simply delicious: black and white nougat and pompe à l’huile which is an oily flat bread.

Other than these 6 essential items, there is a series of elements from which you can choose from in order to complete your farandole of 13 desserts:

-       Dried and sugared fruits

-       Calissons d’aix, which are candy-like delicacies made with almond paste and sugar

-       Fried cakes like oreillettes and beignet, similar to doughnuts

-       Candied fruit

-       Clementines

-       Quince paste

-       Apple and pears

-       Prunes

-       Oranges (which are a symbol of wealth)

-       Orange blossom Fougasse, which is also a kind of flat bread.

-       White grapes

-       Almond-based cake

What an interesting combination! And even if it’s not at Christmas time, we often browse the markets and offer tastes of some of these local specialties, especially things like the calissons, quince paste and the candied fruits of Apt. Want to learn, see, taste or do more? Look at our website!