Leathem to discuss history of reveillon dinners

Karen Trahan Leathem, historian at the Louisiana State Museum, will discuss the history of reveillon dinners at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie. The event is free and open to the public.

Derived from the French word for “awakening,” Reveillon originally was a meal served after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Early New Orleans was almost entirely Catholic, and virtually the entire community would participate in these ceremonies. Families would return from the late-night service famished and set upon a feast prepared in advance and laid out on the table or sideboard. A typical early Reveillon menu looked very much like breakfast, with egg dishes, breads and puddings, but could also include turtle soup, oysters and grillades of veal. The meals were accompanied with wines, cordials and other fortified drinks. The dinners could last for many hours.

Through the 19th century, American holiday conventions such as Christmas trees, gifts for children and shopping frenzies began to establish themselves in New Orleans and supplant many of the Creole traditions. By the turn of the century, Reveillon dinners could be found only in traditional homes, and by the 1940s the custom was all but extinct.

In the 1990s, however, the Reveillon tradition was ‘reawakened’ and transformed. The organization French Quarter Festivals Inc., interested in attracting travelers to New Orleans during the holiday lull in convention bookings, approached local restaurants with an idea to offer and promote special holiday menus. Restaurants embraced the idea and soon so did their local regulars and out of town visitors.

Karen Trahan Leathem, a historian at the Louisiana State Museum for more than 17 years, has worked on a broad range of exhibitions on Louisiana history and culture. Her publications include essays in “New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories” and “Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times.”

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.