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It's Shrove Tuesday!
Just like Candlemas, Mardi Gras is a day eagerly awaited by young and old alike!
Folies de Provence invites you to prepare for this festive day together!
This year, Mardi Gras will be celebrated on February the 13th. It's a party for young and old, where anything goes! It's an opportunity to dress up, but above all to savour the marvellous Clos de Laure jams and beekeepers' honeys such as Lavender honey, Garrigues honey, Acacia honey, Forest honey and Flower honey, which will go wonderfully with your sweet dishes!
But before you pick up your whisk and get to work on your pancake batter, here are a few explanations about the origins of this festival...
Why do we celebrate Mardi Gras?
This festival is celebrated at many carnivals around the world, and its date changes every year. It falls 47 days before Easter. Defined according to the Gregorian calendar, it is set on the last day before the start of the Lenten period.
Now that the religious aspect has largely disappeared, this date has given way to a popular celebration. Schools, for example, often invite children to come and celebrate this festival, dressed up in costumes and make-up. It's a joyous occasion, followed, of course, by a delicious snack.
During Carnival, masks also have a special symbolism. That of being supernatural beings. According to tradition, they are demons and spirits of nature. But masks have their own virtue. It conjures up bad luck and diverts evil influences away from the wearer.
Origins stretching back thousands of years
First pagan, then Christian, these festivities are organised at the end of winter around the solstice, to celebrate the return of spring, fertility and the awakening of nature.
For Christians, Carnival became the "fat" week that always takes place before the start of Lent. Mardi Gras is the last of these "fat" days, symbolising the transition from fatty eating to lean eating. It marks the climax of the festivities and announces the start of Lent.
Did you know? The etymology of the word "carnival" derives from the Latin "carne levare" meaning "to remove, to take away the flesh", which translates into "to remove the meat", in other words the "fat".
A worldwide celebration!
Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world! From Rome to New Orleans, Mardi Gras is the carnival of carnivals. The most famous are, of course, those in Rio de Janeiro, Venice, Nice, Dunkirk, New Orleans, London, Quebec...
Here are some ideas for a great Mardi Gras!
To help you get started, we've put together a selection of Le Clos de Laure fresh fruits jams, including strawberry, raspberry, peach and many others, as well as some good beekeepers' honeys that will go wonderfully with your crêpes, pancakes or bugnes, the must-have Mardi Gras dishes. Let the festivities begin!
Find out more about our honeys and jams :
