Chandel-what? What Jesus has to do with French crêpes

I actually realized that many of you don’t really know what La Chandeleur is. And honestly, I didn’t either before moving to France. At the beginning of February, there’s this small, really cozy tradition here: everyone makes crêpes. Lots of them. Sweet and savory. But why?

La Chandeleur (you could translate it as “the feast of light”) originally comes from a Christian celebration, exactly 40 days after Christmas, and it’s been around since the 4th century. According to the Bible, this is when Jesus was presented at the Temple and recognized by Simeon as the “light of the world.” That’s also why candles used to be blessed on that day. But over time, older pagan traditions seem to have blended in as well. And that’s where it gets interesting. The crêpes are part of that. Their round, golden shape is said to symbolize the sun. A small, edible promise that spring is on its way.

And it’s not just a French thing. In other cultures around the same time of year, people also cook round or flat foods - like pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in the UK or blini during Maslenitsa in Russia. Same idea, really: saying goodbye to winter and welcoming back the light.

The German equivalent is called Mariä Lichtmess. But there isn’t really any food tradition connected to it - which feels a bit sad, if you ask me. I love crêpes, both sweet and savory. I’ll share my favorite recipe in the next post!