The Medieval Christmas

'Tis the season to be reading. Today''s suggestion: The Medieval Christmas by Sophie Jackson. Which I blogged about before, but it was when I bought it, now I read it so I can safely recommend it without shame. Terrible cover I'm afraid. And as a medievalist myself I am somewhat skeptical about how truly "medieval" the traditions described there are. All the same, there is plenty of information about the origins of the mistletoe, holly, ivy, mince pies, Santa Claus (well of course), some other (now) lesser known saints once associated with Christmastime, wassails, the Christmas tree, etc. All in all, a pleasant and light read.

An Epiphany about mince and meat pies

I was reading in this book (which is among my Christmas reads) its chapter about mince pies, when something struck me: mince pies are pretty much not so distant cousins of the pork pies, or meat pies (pâtés à la viande as we call them in Québec) which I have been eating all my life and which are an important part of the traditional Christmas supper in Québec. I blogged about the pie recently in French, surprisingly the post got me many comments from my non-francophone readers. You can find the recipe on PJ's blog here. Anyway, here is my theory: both pies are important, in their respective region of the world, during the Christmas season and are closely associated with it (even though we can eat meat pies all year round in Québec, they ar emore prominent during Christmas). The mince pie is a pie from which the minced meat has now been taken off, while in Québec, the pork pie is made of minced meat, more precisely pork and some veal, but has no more fruit. It has still, however, some spices and herbs in it. And anyone can see the family resemblance. So there you have it. Something that has been so familiar to me has its origins in at least the middle ages. I might make a wish every time I start a pâté à la viande now. In any case, I encourage all my friends in the blogosphere to try the recipe on my brother's blog. Te meat pies are delicious and a perfect substitute for pigs in blanket.

The Medieval Christmas

Today is the first day of Advent, so this is the official countdown to Christmas. Which means a seasonal change in my readings habits. Tis the season to be reading, and so on. I have recently found in Waterstone's The Medieval Christmas by a certain Sophie Jackson. I don't know how well researched it is, I am not sure if I will find anything I don't know already and the front cover is somewhat nauseating, but all the same, it is on my current Christmas read and I know I will enjoy it. Like this book on Christmas traditions I bought for mum years ago, and ended up reading myself. I have other books too, which I will blog about later this month. Regarding The Medieval Christmas, I know I will love it because I associate Christmas with medieval times, but also Pagan-influenced traditions and imagery. And also because it is one of those books that will calm my melancholia of missing Dungeons & Dragons (because I associate the holiday to the game, see this post, among others, that explains why). In any cases, it should be an easy, pleasant, seasonal read.