Tasting no less than 13 special desserts on Christmas eve to ensure good luck for the new year is my kind of pressure. Having been introduced to this ritual by a sweet-toothed Provence-residing Swede, I immediately imagined French favourites jostling for position on the menu – chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, crepe suzette, soufflés, profiteroles, tarte tatin, éclairs…. all my christmases would have come at once. But it turns out there is much more complexity to the custom than simply (over) indulging in randomly spectacular sweets.

Religion has a hand in the choice and numerical symbolism of the celebration – this is Provence after all, where the papacy once resided. So 13 is Jesus and the 12 apostles. Three candles on 3 layered tablecloths offering desserts for 3 days represents the Trinity. The desserts themselves become a little more satirical, with the 4 poverty-bound ‘beggars’ – dried figs (representing the Franciscans), walnuts (Augustinians), almonds (Carmelites) and raisins (Dominicans). Dates represent the wise men from the east; white & black nougat are good and evil – and red nougat is presumably the rosy middle ground. The final compulsory dessert is the aptly named ‘oil pump’, a fougasse style bread made from throwing flour into the oil mill to collect the last of the precious olive oil. Pompe à l’huile should be broken not cut to add another ace to 2025. With tradition taken care of, the remaining 4 desserts can be exotic fruits, sweet almond Calissons, chocolate, and a personal Christmas favourite, watermelon!

The markets are festively ablaze with delectables vying for a spot in the top 13. One could almost imagine monastic orders throwing burnt orange scarves over nut coloured habits, wise women bringing Bowen mangoes from the tropics or nougat studded with glistening red, black, green and yellow cherries. Whatever you have you share, and if it lasts three days then all the better. 2025 is shaping up to be a very lucky year, and ritual or relish, our table on Christmas eve will be overflowing…

The following picture is courtesy of Marseilles Tourism…