Franco-American families throughout
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...
.
The term is first documented in 18th-century France, and was used by the French as a name for the night-long party dinners held by the nobility.
Eventually the word began to be used by other courts (amongst them the Portuguese courts) and after the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
it was adopted as a definition of the New Year's Eve.
Food
The food consumed at ''réveillons'' is generally exceptional or luxurious. For example, appetizers may include
lobster
Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...
,
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not a ...
s,
escargots
Snails are considered edible in many areas such as the Mediterranean region, Africa, or Southeast Asia, while in other cultures, snails are seen as a taboo food. In American English, edible land snails are also called escargot, taken from the Fren ...
or
foie gras
Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding).
Foie gras is a popular and well-known delica ...
, etc. One traditional dish is
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
with
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelate ...
s. Réveillons in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
will often include some variety of
tourtière
Tourtière (, ) is a French Canadian meat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec, usually made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes. Wild game is sometimes used. It is a traditional part of the Christmas ''réveillon'' and New ...
.
Dessert may consist of a
Yule log
The Yule log, Yule clog, or Christmas block is a specially selected log burnt on a hearth as a winter tradition in regions of Europe, and subsequently North America. The origin of the folk custom is unclear. Like other traditions associated with ...
, known as a ''bûche de Noël''. In
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...
, the tradition of the
thirteen desserts is followed: 13 desserts are served, almost invariably including ''pompe à l'huile'' (a flavoured bread),
date
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
** Group dating
*Play date, a ...
s, etc.
Quality wine is usually consumed at such dinners, often with
champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
or similar sparkling wines as a conclusion.
Differences
There are certain traditional differences of character between the Christmas and New Year's Day ''réveillons''.
Christmas is traditionally a Christian occasion, celebrated within the family, and this family character is retained even among non-believers.
The
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...
, or ''Saint-Sylvestre'', ''réveillon'', on the other hand, is commonly a party with friends, etc. People may also go out to a
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...
show, or watch live relays of such shows on television.
Name in others countries
* In Italy, it is called ''Cenone di Natale'' for Christmas and ''Cenone di Capodanno'' for New Year.
* In Poland, it is called ''
Wigilia
Wigilia () is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The term is often applied to the whole of Christmas Eve, extending further to Pasterka— midnight Mass, held in Roman Catholic churches all over Poland a ...
'' for Christmas.
*In Portugal and Brazil, it is called ''Ceia de Natal'' for Christmas, and ''Ceia de Ano Novo'' for New Year. Additionally, the word réveillon (alternatively called "virada do ano") refers nationally to the
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...
.
*In Lithuania, it is called "Kūčios" for Christmas.
See also
*
List of dining events
This is a list of historic and contemporary dining events, which includes banquets, feasts, dinners and dinner parties. Such gatherings involving dining sometimes consist of elaborate affairs with full course dinners and various beverages, wh ...
*
Wigilia
Wigilia () is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The term is often applied to the whole of Christmas Eve, extending further to Pasterka— midnight Mass, held in Roman Catholic churches all over Poland a ...
*
Nochebuena
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reveillon
French cuisine
Cuisine of Quebec
Christmas meals and feasts
Winter traditions
Canadian traditions
French Canadian culture
Christmas in Canada