Christmas in Normandy: Traditions & Food
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First published: November 2025
Explore more about local customs, traditional festivals, and the heart of Normandy countryside life.
🍽️ Le Réveillon de Noël – The Christmas Eve Feast
In France, the main Christmas celebration takes place on the evening of December 24th. Known as le Réveillon de Noël, it’s a festive dinner that brings together family and friends around the table for a multi-course culinary experience. Whether you're here for the Christmas foods in France, the regional customs, or a cosy holiday in Normandy France, you'll find Normandy serves up the season in delicious style.
🍸 L’Apéritif
The meal begins with an apéro normand – a drink and nibbles before dinner. In Normandy, this might be a chilled glass of Normandy cider or Kir Normand (recipe below), served with savoury bites like cheese cubes, smoked sausage or puff pastry twists. You might also find mulled cider or hot spiced apple juice – a regional take on vin chaud (mulled wine).
🥂 Normandy Recipe: Kir Normand
Kir Normand is a derivation of the classic French aperitif called a Kir (traditionally white wine and creme de cassis). The Kir Normande is the Normandy equivalent (apple centric of course!).
Ingredients (for 1 person):
- 20ml/2 cl crème de cassis, blackcurrant liqueur (or any other red fruit, depending on your taste)
- 20ml/2 cl Calvados (or Calva!)
- 150ml/15 cl Normandy cider
- Pour all the ingredients in a glass (ideally a Champagne flute)
- Stir a little.
- Hang an apple twist over the side to make it look as good as it tastes.
- Serve very chilled
Method:
Tip: Make sure you are sitting down (it is a drink that needs concentration!).
🥂 L’Entrée (The Starter)
Traditional French Christmas starters include:
- Oysters (huîtres) – served raw with lemon or mignonette sauce
- Foie gras – delicately placed on toast, not spread, often served with fig or onion chutney
- Escargots à la Bourguignonne – snails baked in garlic butter
- Smoked salmon (saumon fumé) – on blinis with herbed cream cheese
- Verrines – layered starters in glass pots, with combinations like goat cheese and tomato or foie gras and apple
- Coquilles Saint-Jacques – scallops baked with butter, mushrooms and breadcrumbs
🍗 Le Plat Principal (The Main Course)
The highlight of the meal is the main dish, which varies by region and family tradition. Common dishes include:
- Dinde aux Marrons (Turkey with chestnuts) – often with sausage and apple stuffing
- Confit de Canard (slow-cooked duck leg)
- Chapon rôti (roast capon with herbs and apples)
Popular sides include gratin dauphinois, glazed carrots, sautéed mushrooms, green beans almondine, and épinards hachés à la crème (creamed spinach).
🍏 Le Trou Normand
Between courses comes a uniquely Norman tradition: the Trou Normand. Originally, until the end of the last century, it consisted of drinking a glass of Calvados or Calva neat. Since then, ice has been added to give it a fresher taste and to lessen the effect of the alcohol. It is traditionally served between the two "meats", i.e. in the middle of the meal. It has long been proven that it doesn't help digestion, but the tradition has stuck and it’s just another reason to enjoy the region’s famous Calvados apple brandy of Normandy.
The Normans take these things seriously! In 1986 an association the "Confrérie des Chevaliers du Trou Normand" (Brotherhood of the Knights of the Trou Normand) was founded, dedicated to preserving this cultural practice but also promoting local beverage and spirits. In 1999, it became the Grand Order of the Trou Normand, encompassing Calvados, ciders, and pommeau!
🍧 Normandy Recipe: How to make a trou normand?
Method:
- It's as simple as this: a small port glass if you're offering it "cul-sec", or a large champagne glass into which you pour a little Calvados/Calva and then add a scoop of ice.
Tip: As far as possible, the ice should match the alcohol served. We always use apple sorbet..
🧀 Le Fromage (The Cheese Course)
Cheese comes after the main course and before dessert. A traditional French platter includes a goat’s cheese, blue cheese, soft cheese (like Brie or Camembert), hard cheese (like Comté), and a fresh cheese. In Normandy, camembert cheese is a must. It’s typically served with a simple green salad and vinaigrette. Want to know how to serve or bake it? See our Camembert blog for tips.
🍰 Le Dessert
The classic French Christmas dessert is the Bûche de Noël – a light sponge cake rolled and filled with chocolate, coffee or chestnut cream, and decorated like a Yule log. Other popular desserts include:
- Paris-Brest – a choux pastry ring filled with hazelnut cream
- Tarte Normande – a Normandy apple tart with almonds and cream
The log shape is no coincidence: it recalls the old Norman tradition of burning a giant log, known as the chuquet, in the family hearth on Christmas Eve to mark the solstice.
☕ Café et Tisanes (Coffee and Herbal Teas)
Once dessert is done, it's time for a strong espresso or herbal tea (called a tisane). Alongside? Chocolates or traditional festive sweets.
🥃 Digestifs et Eau de Vie
To close the meal, a digestif is served. In Normandy, that means Calvados (apple brandy) or pommeau. A warming end to a festive feast!
🥦 Vegetarian Christmas in France
While classic French fare tends to be meat-heavy, it is absolutely possible to enjoy a vegetarian or vegan Christmas here. Think potimarron velouté (red kuri squash soup), wild mushroom risotto, nut roasts, roasted vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes and cheeses galore. You can skip foie gras and enjoy Camembert cheese in oven with herbs and garlic instead.
🎁 Normandy Christmas Traditions
Normandy has its own festive quirks:
- Papa Noël is the French Father Christmas. Children leave apples, oranges or sweets in wooden clogs called “chabots” instead of stockings.
- Les Haguignettes – tiny puff pastry cakes often shaped like animals – are given out around New Year. This tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, and the name is thought to be of Gallic origin.
- Mulled cider or mulled apple juice is a regional winter warmer found at many markets – a fruity alternative to vin chaud!
🎄 Christmas in Normandy – More Than a Meal
Christmas in Normandy is about gathering, sharing, and slowing down. From traditional markets in cobbled towns to handmade gifts and carol singing in churches, it’s a magical time to enjoy family holidays in Normandy or a cosy escape at a gite in Normandy France.
During November and December, visitors can find Christmassy event listings close to the gîte (Christmas markets etc.) on the What's On in Normandy page.
🇬🇧 A Taste of (our ) Christmas – English Christmas Dinner at Holidays-Normandy
Staying with us over Christmas? We offer an optional traditional English Christmas dinner – complete with all the festive favourites, and vegetarian or vegan options available on request. It’s ideal for guests staying in our gite in Normandy France or any nearby holiday cottages Normandy France. Enquire for details – places are limited (up to 6 people).
🌟 Final Thoughts
From traditional Christmas foods in France to local quirks like mulled cider and Kir Normand, this region knows how to do the holidays right. Whether you’re visiting for food, traditions, or a peaceful self-catering accommodation Normandy France, Christmas in Normandy is a festive experience like no other.