Information about a stress-free relocation and day-to-day life in France.
Out and about in Brittany.
French traditions, testimonials from expats living in France and much more info about France!
Since beginning of February Dinan funfair has been lightening up Dinan. With its 52 rides, children and adults find their favorite amusements.
Dinan funfair (fête foraine) always starts around Mardi Gras and is on for a few weeks. See my post about Mardi Gras and Carnaval.
Although I don’t enjoy rides, I love walking round the fair. The atmosphere is great! Seeing people having fun, the lovely smell of candy floss, waffles, chichis (they taste like doughnuts!), pancakes, sugar coated nuts, etc!
Dinan funfair is open everyday until 30th March. Make the most of it now!
Carnaval celebrations started on Tuesday 16th (Mardi-gras) this year. Rich foods are usually eaten as a tradition. See my other post here.
Here is the recipe and a photo of the Bugnes I made last week:
Bugnes moëlleuses. They - according to my English friends - test like doughnuts! It is a Lyonnaise recipe.
Ingredients for about 50 Bugnes
- 400 g of flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 sachet backing powder
- 60 g of butter
- 25 cl of milk
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 or 2 tablespoons of orange water (fleur d'oranger)
- oil for frying
- icing sugar for the decoration
How to prepare the Bugnes:
Mix flour, backing powder, sugar, eggs and orange water with a wooden spoon.
In the meantime melt butter with milk.
Add the butter mixture to the other ingredients with the wooden spoon then by hand. Add flour if needed (I must say I had to add a lot of flour to get a nice dough). It is ready when it is not sticky anymore.
Sprinkle the work top with floor and roll the dough with a rolling pin. The thickness of the Bugnes should be about 5 mm. The proper Bugnes are diamond shaped with the hole in the middle but you can do any shapes you want!
How to cook the bugnes:
Fry the Bugnes in hot oil until they are brown. Put them on kitchen paper so it absorbs most of the fat.
Sprinkle them with icing sugar before serving. They are delicious warm!
You can also cover them with home-made jam or lemon curd! It is Mardi-Gras (Fat Tuesday) after all so enjoy it!
Mardi-gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” also known as Shrove Tuesday in England. It refers to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday.
Rich and fatty foods include gauffres (waffles) and crêpes (pancakes). Brittany being famous for pancakes, you must eat pancakes for Mardi-gras! Both eaten with some nice home-made jam of course! See my future posts about how to make jam.
Where I come from – Lyon – we make Bugnes. See this link for recipes here.
Well-known practices associated with Mardi-gras are wearing masks and costumes, dancing, parades, etc.
In France most villages organise a Carnaval for children. Often a music band takes part in the celebrations making it more joyful. Everyone then join the parade which always ends up in the village hall (salle des fêtes) where the entertainment keeps children amused for a couple of hours!
