Traditional Christmas Confectionery

Mendiants from Wikipedia Commons - Public Domain Image
By Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
Italy
December 8, 2015 8:47am CST
I have started to prepare the chocolate truffles and the mendiants for Christmas. I believe you know what chocolate truffles are. The mendiant is a traditional French chocolate. It is composed by chocolate, and a choice of nuts and dried fruits. In the ancient times, the mendiants were meant to represent the four monastic orders and the color of the nuts and fruits should refer to the color of monastic robes. Hazelnut for the Augustinians, raisins for the Dominicans, dried fig for Franciscans and whole almond for Carmelites. You can look at the photo to have a better idea what they look like.
34 people like this
37 responses
susan
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
8 Dec 15
they look nice.... and something a little different for the plate.... instead of after dinner mints... PS ... I like your new avatar.... or profile pic....
4 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
Thank you Susan, this is my little Christmas avatar. The mendiants are thin so you do not feel guilty eating a couple, even after the Christmas dinner.
3 people like this
susan
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
8 Dec 15
@LadyDuck yes that's true too....
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
8 Dec 15
I am not overly fond of nuts, so you can save me extra truffles instead.
4 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
Which kind of truffles do your prefer Barry, Brandy or Whisky? All will be with dark chocolate, because is the one that we all prefer.
1 person likes this
Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
8 Dec 15
@LadyDuck What, no Rum truffles?
2 people like this
AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
8 Dec 15
They sound delicious. Like a Cadbury fruit & nut or a Chunky bar. But, of course, those don't have any symbolic meanings. I like traditional things, they make the holiday special.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
I agree, I like traditions and it's interesting to discover ancient symbols of food.
1 person likes this
Yalul
@yalul070 (1712)
• Manila, Philippines
8 Dec 15
I did not know that something like those could have a religious significance. I will just eat them upon laying my hands on them I was raised by Augustinians. I just find it cool that we represent the hazelnut hahaha! I love hazelnuts, next to Macadamia nuts.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
I also love the hazelnuts. Many traditional desserts, especially in the south of France, have a religious significance.
2 people like this
MARILYN
@Marilynda1225 (91013)
• United States
8 Dec 15
Your chocolates look amazing.
3 people like this
ingrid
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
8 Dec 15
I would love to have a taste of that. I will ask my brother to prepare truffles. (he makes truffles in a glass bowl and he uses some flans creating beautiful colors, and they taste good).
3 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
I like home made truffles, they look and taste better.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
@ridingbet The truffle is not a mushroom is a tuber, it grows underground. The most praised are from my country, Italy, and the white variety costs about 40$ for each gram. I like the taste, but they are too expensive for me.
1 person likes this
ingrid
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
8 Dec 15
@LadyDuck but is there a kind of mushroom named truffles? I heard that from chef Gordon Ramsay in Master chef and he said that is the most expensive kind of mushroom- truffles.
2 people like this
Arthur Chappell
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
8 Dec 15
oranges, walnuts and dates tend to be traditional Xmas treats as well selection boxes of popular branded chocolate bars - I'm the only one in our family who enjoys eating dates
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
I love dates, my favorite are the fresh dates coming from California, the Medjouls.
1 person likes this
Arthur Chappell
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
8 Dec 15
@LadyDuck Dates are really delicious - we used to get them in tins in an annual hamper my parents bought but the hampers fad has largely stopped nowadays
1 person likes this
Vito Taylor
@bluebirdfly (188)
• Guangzhou, China
8 Dec 15
It looks delicious, I want to have a taste.but I'm so far away from you.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
The travel to taste them would be too much, I am so sorry.
1 person likes this
Alfredo Rossi
@amadeo (111937)
• United States
8 Dec 15
Looks great there.I loved it.
2 people like this
amnabas
@amnabas (14877)
• Karachi, Pakistan
8 Dec 15
Wow it looks tempting I love the chocolate confectionaries.
2 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
They are not difficult to make, you melt the chocolate, and put the fruits and nuts on the middle of each "round".
1 person likes this
Jekca
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Dec 15
looks yummy, although I had never heard of a mendiant before
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
It's typically French, but I have seen that on the Internet you can find recipes in English.
1 person likes this
Jekca
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Dec 15
@LadyDuck most likely, I just hadn't heard of it, so would have never looked for a recipee.
1 person likes this
ElizabethWallace
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
8 Dec 15
Religion? Any excuse to eat cookies, I guess.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
I guess too. many traditional confectionery for the Christmas and Eastr from South of France has religious symbols.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
9 Dec 15
@ElizabethWallace Do you mean the Easter bunny? This is not of French, it originated in Germany and has not a religious origin.
1 person likes this
ElizabethWallace
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
9 Dec 15
@LadyDuck And then there is the bunny. What's up with that?
1 person likes this
paigea
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
8 Dec 15
that is interesting. I hadn't heard of that before.
2 people like this
fishtiger58
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
17 Dec 15
I could so eat that, yummy.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
18 Dec 15
I love chocolate and also dried fruits, so this is something I like.
1 person likes this
fishtiger58
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
18 Dec 15
@LadyDuck I love dried fruits. Love them on my salads.
1 person likes this
Belle Starr (Iz)
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
9 Dec 15
Should I start looking for my box in the mail anytime soon?? What do you mean you aren't shipping from Switzerland!! haha They look beautiful.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
9 Dec 15
LOL, they will arrive to destination frozen or melted, but we can try.
1 person likes this
Judy Story
@jstory07 (148720)
• Roseburg, Oregon
8 Dec 15
They actually look really good. I should make some. I used to all the time.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
They are not very difficult to make and I use the nuts and dried fruits that I like more.
sofs
@sofssu (23660)
•
10 Dec 15
They sound like my kind of treats.
Gary Marsh
@garymarsh6 (23979)
• United Kingdom
11 Dec 15
OH how nice that you are making your own. Clever idea. I am sure I could help you lose them somewhere!
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
12 Dec 15
Come here to help Gary, you are more than welcome.
Boingboing
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
8 Dec 15
They look like florentines without the base.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
8 Dec 15
Florentines are cookies, but some ingredients are in common.
1 person likes this
Jessica
@JESSY3236 (22199)
• United States
9 Dec 15
They sound really good and look really good. I bet they smell good too.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (502190)
• Italy
9 Dec 15
The chocolate always smells good when you melt it.