the biggest disconnect for me in france, is the traditional christmas cake, La Bûche de Noël. (christmas log) it is THE cake, a must-have on the christmas dinner table. during christmas, it takes center stage. if this cake were missing, it would be the equivalent of having no turkey on the thanksgiving table. scandaleux!

based on my own experiences in france, people get all excited over this cake, oohing and ahhhing about how great it is, practically peeing in their pants over the chocolaty pièce de résistance. the first time i’d celebrated christmas in france, i couldn’t wait to taste this amazing cake everyone was talking about. afterall, france has some of the most unrivaled pastries and baked goods on earth, doesn’t it? after i took one bite, everyone around me was expecting the raving and positive reaction from the visiting american. all eyes were turned to me. my first thought was, “EEEEIUWWW!” but i couldn’t exactly say that. within a span of several seconds, i was convinced it must be a joke being played on me. where is the camera cachée? the hidden camera to get the “money shot” on video!? i shifted my eyes around the room to look for the camera and to assess the situation. no. it didn’t seem to be a joke in the making.

someone: “so, how do you like it?”

me (thinking eiuw eiuw eiuw eiuw): “ahhhh, THAT’S the traditional french christmas LOG.” (you know what kind of LOG i was imagining)

ok so, i just thought i’d gotten a bad version of the famous bûche de noël. no biggy. i’ll catch a good version some other year. but sadly, that has not happened! did i just have a string of bad luck year after year? the only place i can imagine that would have a “to die for” version would be chez the man of the hour, pierre hermé. there’s no way his “yule log” would resemble the logs on his parisian sidewalks.

personally, i think this phenomenon comes with an explanation or a combination of reasons: 1) everyone MUST have a yule log on the table each year. they will buy one no matter what. SO. the bakers just crank them out haphazardly. why should they care if they taste good? they will all sell anyway; 2) people just lose their minds during the holidays; 3) they’ve drank so much, their taste buds have gone to pot; 4) people have confused the ancient tradition of throwing the winter solstice log into a fire to burn it – with throwing it into their mouths to eat it. don’t they realize it was meant for the bon fire?

tags: travel france buche de noel french cake christmas food francophiles pierre herme