St. Catherine's Taffy () is a variety of
taffy made by French-Canadian families to celebrate the feast day of
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, which takes place annually on
November 25
Events Pre-1600
*571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Ancient Rome, Rome, celebrates the first of his three Roman triumph, triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans.
*1034 – Máel Coluim II of Scotland, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, Ki ...
.
Origins
St. Catherine's Taffy is a candy made by girls in French-Canadian families to honour
St. Catherine, the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of unmarried women on her
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
, November 25.
St. Catherine's day is sometimes known in Franco Canadian families as "taffy day", a day when marriage-age girls would make taffy for eligible boys.
Marguerite Bourgeoys, a founder of the
Notre-Dame de Montréal and an early teacher at Ville-Marie, the colonial settlement that would later become Montreal, is credited with starting the tradition as a way of keeping the attention of her young students.
See also
* Catherinette
* Saint Catherine's Day
References
External links
St. Catherine's taffy recipe
Holiday foods
Cuisine of Quebec
Canadian confectionery
Christian cuisine
Taffies (candy)
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