'Le Réveillon': New Year’s Eve with a Bit of French Wisdom

Dear readers, today the new year is off to a good start for Southern Fried French: We’re honored to be doing a guest blog at French Word a Day.  Please head over to the site to sort out French tartes vs. southern pies, and to find the recipe for Lucky New Year Pie with Grand Marnier.  And here, other New Year’s treats are in store.

When the holiday season approaches, my dear husband, who normally avoids entering a supermarché if possible, suddenly grabs a  big grocery bag and decides to accompany me.  Why?  He’s looking for the huge display of les  Révillions that is bound to dominate the center aisle.

Le réveillon is the French word for the celebration on Christmas eve or New Year’s eve.   It’s also the name (or nearly so, spelled with one less letter)of a brand of  chocolate papillotes that only appear during the holiday season, a French tradition. These beaudacious bon-bons come wrapped up in little silver and gold packages, in a large bag.  You can choose many types:  truffles, milk or dark or white chocolate, or the spiritueux, filled with cognac , Grand Marnier or plum liqueur.  We think they are the best chocolates ever, and we load up our cart with them for gifts to friends and, bien sûr, to ourselves.

They are special in another way, however.  Unwrap each little treasure and you’ll find some words of wisdom, a famous  quote in French.  With  guests for Christmas, it’s always fun to read them and sort them out.

( Photo:  Where’s the missing piece? For the recipe for Lucky New Year Pie go to my guest blog at French Word A Day.)

For your French practice today, here are several of this year’s quotes,  with translations provided by my French class, guided by our châtelaine and linguist, Nicole (many chocolates were consumed on your behalf, Dear Readers, so we could bring you these quotes).

Il faut toujours se réserver le droit de rire le lendemain de ses idées de la veille.—Napoléon Bonaparte

Always reserve the right to laugh the day after at your ideas of the day before.

Amour, Amour, quand tu nous tiens, on peut bien dire: adieu prudence.—La Fontaine

Love, love, when you get hold of us, we can bid adieu to prudence.

Il faut toute la vie pour apprendre à vivre.—Sénèque

It takes a lifetime to learn how to live.

Apprends comme si tu devais vivre pour toujours et vis comme si tu devais mourir ce soir!—Proverbe Tibétain.

Learn as if you might live forever, and live as if you might die this evening!

L’homme aimable est celui qui écoute en souriant les choses qu’il sait, dites par quelqu’un qui les ignore.---Alfred Capus

A friendly man is one who listens, smiling, to a subject he knows well, explained by someone who knows nothing about it.

Aliments.  La découverte d’un mets nouveau fait plus pour le Bonheur du genre humain que la découverte d’une étoile.—Brillat-Savarin

Food.  The discovery of a new dish does more for the human race than the discovery of a star.

My friend Ali recycled this idea and printed out inspiring quotes to put by each plate on the holiday table, for each guest to discover and share.  A nice gesture, a reminder that ‘tis a season of new beginnings, of reunions with family and friends, of resolutions and reflection.

And so, a very happy and healthy New Year to all!  I can’t offer you chocolates, but I will offer you a recipe for Nicole’s fabulous Tarte au Chocolat, which she generously has shared with us.  It’s chocolate, pure and simple, so good.

 

 Recipe:  Nicole’s Tarte au Chocolat 

 

You will need an 11” (28cm) tart pan with removable bottom.

For the pate sablée (sweet pastry): pre-heat oven to 350F (180C)

• 1/3 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1  1/3  cup flour
• 1 stick  (115 grams)  cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.
• 1 egg 

For filling: 

• 1 ½ cup light cream
•  11 oz. (300 grams) good semi-sweet baking chocolate, cut into small pieces.
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
•  Crème fraiche or whipped cream
• Confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar)

For crust:  Mix dry ingredients in a food processor with several pulses.  Add butter and pulse about 10 times, until the consistency of a coarse meal (or mix in by hand with your fingertips).

Add egg and pulse just until mixture starts to come together in a dough.  Turn out onto floured plastic wrap.  Wrap and chill at least an hour.  Roll out dough and fit into  pan, crimping edges.  Bake 15-20 minutes until crust is golden.  (You can use pie weights, but this lazy cook just pokes it with a fork before I put it in and once more halfway).   Keep oven on, for next step.

Meanwhile, make  filling:  In a saucepan bring cream just to a boil and add chocolate.  Turn off heat.  Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Stir in egg and mix well (add a bit of chocolate to egg first, if still warm).  Pour into pan.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Chill.  Garnish with crème fraiche, sweetened with confectioner’s sugar to taste, or with whipped cream.  I hope this dish is better than discovering a star.  Bonne année, toute le monde!

 

Comments

[Mel]

Super!

[Carol]

Lovely quotes and photos, just right for the new year. Merci! Double-check spelling. It's le réveillon , one letter is missing in your key word.

[cynthia at the daily basics]

Happy New Year my dear Anglo-French friend! I wish happiness, peace, love and prosperity to you and Ron with the added wish that he learns a teeny bit more French so he can do the grocery shopping for you.

[Lynn McBride]

Thanks Carol, for catching the mistake. Which is complicated, as it turns out. I spelled it like the chocolates, which as it turns out have one less letter!

[Mark Kane]

This was fun, especially the quotes (though one could question the wisdom of Napoleon). Not to nitpick but I think "pruduence" should be "prudence." (Voir La Fontaine.)

[Debbie Ambrous]

I'm looking forward to using the recipe. I love the picture of the red amarylis too. My Granny Bryan had a garden filled with amarylis of many colors and people from all over the town would drive by in the Spring just to see her flowers. I'll never see an amarylis without thinking of her. She would have loved the chocolate tarte too.

[Debbie Ambrous]

While we are on the spelling kick, it seems that amaryllis has two "L's" And, I always won the spelling bee!

[Lynn McBride]

How lucky I am to have an editor reading my blog! Merci, Mark, and Happy New Year to you and yours.

[Barbara Andolsek Paintings]

Merci for the splendid recipes Lynn and wishes for a Happy New Year as well.

[Lynn McBride]

from Frances, a French teacher in Brunswick, GA:
Bonjour, Lynn! Je m'appelle Frances Hardwick Draper, et je suis la prof de français à Brunswick High School. J'ai fait la connaissance de votre mère l'été passé à Café Frederica avec mes parents, Frank et Susan Hardwick. Votre mère m'a donné votre email, mais comme tout le monde, je suis occupée...Alors, quand j'ai vu l'article qu'elle a écrit de vous, votre mari, et le voyage qu'elle a fait récemment chez vous, j'ai du regarder votre website. Comme c'est magnifique!!! J'ai amené ma classe de français à la bibliothèque pour le regarder. Ils s'amusent bien! Chaque élève doit faire un peu de recherche et écrire 7 questions (en utilisant votre website) pour les autres élèves. Après nous allons utiliser les questions pour jouer un jeu. Je vous souhaite un Joyeux Noël et une Bonne Année!

[candy]

Hello! I'm going to try Nicole's chocolate pie and it calls for 'light cream.' It seems I only have 'heavy cream' and '1/2 & 1/2' to chose from. I'm leaning towards the 'heavy cream.' Or am I not thinking correctly? Should I make a blend of the two?

Merci,
Candy

[Lynn McBride]

Hi Candy,
I think half and half is about the same as light cream. Bon appetit!