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Chandeleur: when the word "crêpe" turns the French language upside down

2023-02-02T06:11:51.209Z


On the occasion of the "feast of candles", during which it is customary to taste pancakes, Le Figaro returns to the expressions born of this dish.


The traditions linked to it have the virtue of stimulating our taste buds, just like that of nourishing the French language.

“Who eats pancakes when Candlemas has arrived is sure to have money during the year”

, says a French saying.

Celebrated 40 days after Christmas, La Chandeleur, “candlelight festival”, is an unmissable event for young and old.

And for good reason, it is an opportunity for gourmets to delight in “pancakes” (from the Latin “crispus”, “curly”, “wavy”), symbols of prosperity and light.

To discover

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Originally, it was customary among the Romans, once the end of winter came, to celebrate Lupercus, god of the forest and herds, bearer of fertility, by displaying torches in the fields.

At the same time, a similar Celtic ceremony, the Imbolc, took place in northern Europe to pray to the goddess Brigit to please purify the land and favor future seeds.

In 472, at the instigation of Pope Gelasius I, the ceremony was Christianized to finally celebrate the presentation of Jesus (“light of the world”) in the Temple and the purification of the Virgin.

Legend has it that the sovereign pontiff then offered golden cakes to pilgrims on their way to Rome.

Then was born the tradition of making pancakes on Candlemas.

The very ones that have inspired tasty expressions.

Make the pancake

How do you like it?

White, golden, spotted?

Depending on the time it spends in the pan, the crepe takes on different aspects and takes on various colors.

The same goes for our bodies, once summer comes.

While some try, in vain, to protect themselves from the sun's rays, others, quietly installed on their beach towel, toss and turn to obtain a tanned complexion to make the envious.

It is mainly at this time of year, but also during insomnia when no side of the bed seems to be suitable, that we "make the pancake".

flip someone like a pancake

“Napoleon turned the world upside down like a pancake

,” wrote Jean-Richard Bloch in

Destins du siècle

(1931).

A colloquial expression if there ever was one, we read in the

Trésor de la langue française

, it is no less colorful and suggests that we have changed someone's opinion, attitude with as much ease and speed of flipping a pancake.

Also, who else but a person of influence can boast of such a faculty?

Read also“Christmas”, “Jesus”: why these words disappear at the time of … Christmas

Drop someone like a pancake

This expression is the fear of any lover and any being in search of attention.

Abandoning someone with as much ease and speed as one lets the pancake fall back into the pan after having blown it up… What could be more violent?

In

L'assassin

(1948), a work in which he tells the story of Didier Soucaille, guilty of a heinous crime, Maurice Genevoix recounts from the point of view of the son of the judge who investigated the case, a passage in his life in these terms:

"Soucaille gives me a soft paw, and immediately drops me like a pancake to seize Belligat in passing."

Fight for the cat pancake

A well-known phrase in Brittany and Normandy, "to fight for the cat pancake" refers to the last pancake of a round, made with the last ladle of batter.

Considered as failed or incomplete and, in fact, "good for the cat", this pancake (also called the "galichon") is traditionally offered to the youngest of the table.

But sibling wars are legion and it is customary to fight to obtain the long-awaited commodity.

This is how many creperies bear the sign “La Crêpe du Chat” or “Le Galichon”.

I promise, there will be something for everyone...

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-02

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