Paris, France —It’s the fourth day of Christmas which began on Christmas Day with the traditional 12 days of Christmas following one another until January 6th when the Three Wise Men entered into Bethlehem from somewhere East, guided by a star. Starring on this fourth day of Christmas is a very French tradition, the house of Maisons du Monde which presents Christmas table and decoration cheer every year. A traditional Christmas season table and decor is abundantly embracing gingerbread, glowing candles, nutcrackers and warming wreaths. But where would the 12 days of Christmas be without two staples of the cheery French holiday season: champagne and a Yule log cake known in French as the bûche de Noël, a quintessential French specialty. Additions to the table include Krug Grande Cuvée champagne and Carette’s Yule log holiday cake. 

A perfect fourth day of Christmas or any day of the year champagne is the Krug Grande Cuvée 170th edition, a champagne released in 2022 and ready to sparkle into awaiting glasses. The philosophy of the house’s founder Joseph Krug was to offer the very best champagne possible each year regardless of the climate and the growing conditions. The Krug Grande Cuvée was born and is now being offered up in its 170th edition, a limited edition. For this edition the house’s cellar master Julie Cavil wanted to showcase the elegance of the 2014 vintage. She assembled 195 different wines from 12 different years, the youngest being from 2014. The bottles rested in the cellars for some seven years and the result is a generous champagne, rich, aromatic, everything you would want in a champagne. This year it is presented  in a special box featuring musical notes, notes which the house of Krug feels are as unique as the gustatory notes in a champagne and the house regards its Grande Cuvée champagnes as musical masterpieces. 

A traditional chocolate Bûche de Noël seemed appropriate to savor alongside this sparkling musical masterpiece and the house of Carette offered up the perfect dialogue to the house of Krug. The house’s Bûche Lucas is a traditional creamy affair dreamed up by Carette’s chef Frédéric Tessier and which you can savor in Carette’s Parisian tea salons or take home with you. The Lucas log is made with creamy chocolate mousse and hazel nuts from the Piedmont — the place of predilection for the hazel nut — and a soft chocolate biscuit lined with ground pine nuts. It is just one of several Christmas cakes and treats at Carette. The Yule log can finds its origins in pagan traditions back in a time when a tree was carefully selected to bring into the home or dwelling to burn during the period of Midwinter or the winter solstice. The ancient fire festival of the winter solstice survived into Christendom with the Yule log custom being widespread in parts of Europe, notably England and France when the pagan tree became a log. Today the Yule log has become a delicious and often an intricate cake served throughout the winter holiday season. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette

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