Mendiants: French chocolate Christmas treat

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France loves its Bûche de Noël at Christmas, the decorated Christmas log cake appears on every table. However, France has secretly enjoyed other festive desserts for centuries. In Provence there is an ancient tradition of thirteen – yes, thirteen! – desserts, including chocolatey morsels known as mendiants says Ally Mitchell.

Mendiants: French chocolate Christmas treat

Mendiants are not just a Provencal speciality though. Every Christmas, these treats are a common sight in confectionary shops all over France. These puddles of chocolate are studded with dried fruits, nuts, and candied citrus. Chocolatiers outdo themselves, competing for the title of innovation, whether it’s caramelising nuts, candying ginger, sprinkling with seeds, or tempering varying shades of chocolate. But once upon a time, the toppings of each mendiant were specific for a reason.

The history of mendiant chocolates in France

The French word “mendiant” means beggar. This unusual term for a chocolate originates from the “Mendicant Orders,” monastic orders from the twelfth century that depended entirely on charity. They lived in poverty to be able to dedicate their lives to devotion, begging alms from the faithful and often receiving coins and dried fruit. In the Middle Ages, there were four monastic orders, therefore the different mendiant toppings represent those colours: the raisins symbolise the Franciscans who wore brown hooded tunics; the hazelnuts represent the Carmelites, also known as the Brown Brothers, dressed in brown robes; the blanched almonds stand in for the Dominicans, the White Brothers, who wore white; and the regal dried figs are to commemorate the Augustinians bedecked in purple.

Even though chocolate has connotations of rich indulgence, mendiants are in fact the embodiment of spirituality in Provençal tradition. Mendiants were simply assorted nuts and dried fruit until the sixteenth century, then chocolate arrived in France, and they took on a luxurious chocolate medallion shape which became the norm.

Fancy making mendiants at home? It’s very easy – here’s the recipe.

But where do those thirteen desserts come in?

The thirteen desserts of Provence

These dried fruits and nuts make up four of the sacred thirteen, symbolising Jesus and his twelve apostles. Each family in Provence would adapt their thirteen according to their preferences, however, the bare bones include nougat – both white and black to represent good and evil – fougasse or an olive oil and orange water bread known as pompe d’huile, dates, calissons d’Aix – morsels of almond and candied melon paste – and seasonal fruit. You would be expected to taste each one to bring yourself luck for the coming year.

The thirteen desserts are part of “le gros souper,” a ritual loaded with spiritual meaning, served on the 24^th December – le réveillon. First, the table would be covered with three tablecloths to represent the Holy Trinity. A three-branched candlestick celebrates another triumvirate: those who are deceased, those yet to be born, and those who are present. The table would be laid, including an additional empty place, available for anyone needing somewhere to stay. All the courses would be brought to the table at once to prevent getting up to serve. Therefore, the night’s repas maigre (“light meal”) of seven lean dishes, such as fish or vegetables, would mingle with the thirteen desserts. To end the meal, the table would not be cleared. Crumbs are left for passing angels to nibble on, so the leftovers would stay out for three days.

The tradition of 13 desserts is still popular in Provence. Without the chocolate medallion, the French mediants would have been forgotten to time. So, next time you spot a bag of those chocolatey discs garnished with their different dried fruits and nuts, spare a thought for the begging brothers and for the ancient rituals of Provence that have helped them stay in our consciousness to this day.

Ally Mitchell is a blogger and freelance writer, specialising in food and recipes. Ally left the UK to live in Toulouse in 2021 and now writes about her new life in France on her food blog NigellaEatsEverything.

Recipe for mendiants

Recipe for Bûche de Noël