Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals

Several decades ago, before the advent of Google apps on our clever phones, Google on our aging laptops, or even the Britannica in the school library, my Mum bought us Carr children a junior version of an encyclopedia- Childcraft. It had 15 hard covered, large print, easy to read for a 10 year old encyclopedic books; Graham’s favourite was the “How to Make” and mine was the version that explained the calendar and worlds’ holidays on a month to month version.
In it, I learnt many really random bits and pieces that some women thrive on the knowledge of.(what gifts to give at wedding anniversaries, what gem stones were symbolic of your birth month- mine was Opal- thanks Google app for the reminder).
The other snippets that I found incredibly fascinating was the traditions surrounding Christmas. I won’t be able to recite them back to you, but in the last 4 weeks or so, little memories of those Chidcraft books have been surfacing in my mind, and at the age of 36 (really???), I am at last able to put them in their place.
Back in mid November, the Germans celebrate St Martin’s Day, which celebrated the end of the harvest, among several other aspects. Originally it was the start of a 40 day fast celebrating the life of St Martin, which Christians later adopted as the start of Advent.
At school the girls made lanterns, and we were encouraged to go out for a walk with them, albeit on the school premises. They were taught songs, which were sung all the while.
It coincides with Armistice Day celebrations, and I can’t help but note the irony that St Martins’ Day on the 12th November is a German celebration, (although not a public holiday) while Armistice Day on the 11th is not celebrated. Celebrations will always remain in the realm of the victor.
On December the 6th, we celebrate the life of Saint Nicolas. At this time of the year, la boulangere bake Mannele in his honour. It is sweet bread baked in the shape of a man, often with chocolate chips or raisins. Again, Alex’s class took a bus to go and see Saint Nicolas, and the week’s class activities revolved around him.
As with Saint Martin, look him and Saint Nicolas up on Wiki for the full history and meaning, but I will leave you with the piece of information that Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Pere Noel or St Nicolas who bring children their gifts on Christmas eve are all fashioned off the idea of Saint Nicolas who we celebrate on December 6th.
My friend Mme H is married into an old bourgeois Strasbourg family and has occasionally mentioned that she had been criticised in the past by her in-laws that they had not had their Advent Candles ready for December. Eager to fit in, I asked her what the big deal was, and she explained that it was custom for Strasbourg families to have a wreath or circle with 4 candles, 1 candle was each lit on each Sunday in the month of December. As I was under the misguided impression that Catholicism is the dominant religion in Europe, I suspected that it might not be appropriate for us to do this, so I phoned my Mum. She reminded me that Advent is not isolated to Catholics, and in fact Protestants celebrate it too- did I not remember candles being lit at St Michaels Church in Boston?
With a sigh of relief, I decided I was keen to invest in this tradition, but with our finances being a bit tight, I decided not to buy the off-cuts from the many sapins de Noel that can be found at most corner, and instead bought 4 short stubby candles and a gold and cream 3cm wide ribbon adorned with angels that I could wrap around my Mexican Circle of Friends. Traditional it is indeed not, but have you ever known me to conform to societal norms in the truest sense of the word?


So, once we had bought our Christmas tree from IKEA, made my own Advent wreath, the next tradition was Bredele.
Bredele is the Alsacienne tradition to bake biscuits for Christmas. They spend an entire day, with several families, and several more age old recipes, passed down from mother to daughter, baking biscuits. I am reminded of Anton’s Mum and Dad making biltong and droe wors.
Anton’s office is multi cultural, and he has some amazing ladies that work there who are from Italy, Spain and Sicily who invited us as a family to one of their houses to show us the Bredele tradition. The host, who is Basque, but married to an Alsacienne man has learnt over the years what is anticipated, and was happy to teach me. What an amazing day! We arrived at 10h30, with a South African fruit cake and a cake tin. We left with a cake tin filled with biscuits, and tummies full of traditional Alsacienne food- pressure cooked pork knuckle, juicy sausages, boiled potatoes and some kind of boiled turnip. Gourmet it was not, yummy, filling, delish it indeed was. Oh, and my Lynn Bedford Hall Christmas fruit cake was a HUGE hit, especially with the Italian who is married to an Englishman!
With just 2 days left before Christmas day, the Chriskindelmarik is drawing to a close soon. I have been in on a few week days, when it’s quietest, and I will reserve my thoughts on it for now. However, I have sourced the best value for money Gluwein, even popping down in the middle of the morning for a wee taster, and my girls have discovered Bretzle Sucre, which is a doughnut, shaped like a huge bready pretzel, covered in castor sugar. It’s my excuse for taking them with me to have a gluwein- they get to have as many bretzles as they want, so long I can have a gluwein in peace! Anton is on leave for the next week, and I realised last night that there are still 2 markets that I have not investigated, so we might take a walk down after our Christmas lunch to sample their gluwein.

Images from the Market and City:

Very soon, the lights will all be dimmed, and then January sets in, and I am told that the city turns to slush and misery as the tail of winter settles. All too soon, easter will be upon us though, with many more different traditions and celebrations to learn. I can’t wait!