Madeleines – France’s Famous, Small, Sponge Cakes; They are Shaped Like Scallop Shells.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

   
Madeleines.
  
The Madeleine or Madeleines on French Menus.

Nearly every French historical figure of the last 200 years has taken or been given credit for creating or promoting the success of, the Madeleine.  Please do not take these little, scallop-shaped, sponge cakes lightly; they are part of French culinary values and tradition.
    
Madeleines are part of the culinary tradition of France.

If you wish to be an active part of the French culinary world to begin by buying yourself a Moule à Madeleine, a Madeleine cake baking pan, they are available in every kitchenware shop in France. You may be making Madeleines yourself as soon as you return home; all that is required is flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, yeast, and for flavor vanilla or orange zest. Each pan will hold 6, 12, or more Madeleines.
  
 A Madeleine baking pan.
In France, when a host or hostess cannot think of a biscuit or cake to serve with the coffee, they take the Madeleine pan out, and voila fifteen minutes later you are served Madeleines.

The town of Commercy where all Madeleines began.

The small and attractive town of Commercy, population 8,000 claims to be the source of the original recipe for Madeleines. Commercy is in the department of Meuse, part of the historical Lorraine that since 1-1-2016 is in the super region of the Grand Est. The department borders Belgium and Commercy by adding the scallop shell shape, and the name became famous, giving the residents the glory of ownership over the most well-known small sponge cakes in France. Also, from the Lorraine comes the Rum Baba and the Quiche Lorraine along with nearly 50% of France's beer.  Commercy, is just 54 km (34 miles) from the beautiful city of Nancy; a trip of about 45 minutes by car and 35 minutes by trains that run every hour. 
   
The town hall of Commercy
www.flickr.com/photos/45368675@N03/5676186374/
   
Defending the original Madeleine.

The original Madeleine has to be protected against cheap imitations, and to that end, way back in 1963, a group of townspeople formed Les Compagnons de la Madeleine.   The Companions of the Madeleine are like the hundreds of other French food and wine confréries that promote and defend their favorite foods and wines. Members dress up in inventive, would be ancient costumes, hold parades, and dinners while defending and promoting their chosen product. The Companions of the Madeleine promote and protect the origins of the Madeleine sponge cakes as well as organizing banquets for their members. At their banquets, Madeleines are the only dessert, and significant quantities of wine are consumed, and, of course, long rambling speeches are made in French. In and around the town of Commercy, there is much to see, do, and eat, and that includes their local truffles. The town's English-language website is an excellent place to start looking:

   
Compagnons de la Madeleine.

  
Marcel Proust and the Madeleine.


Marcel Proust (1871 – 1922) is considered by many to be France's finest author. His most famous work was À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, a novel in seven volumes. The novel uses the Madeleines as an example of involuntary memory. The last translation, from 1992, by J.D. Enright, is published by Modern Library as a Complete and Unabridged 6-Book Bundle: Remembrance of Things Past, Volumes I-VI.
 
The seven parts of À la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Photograph courtesy of unsingequiparle
www.flickr.com/photos/137131236@N08/32113310482/
  
The name Madeleine comes from the French for Mary Magdalene.
  
You may have heard or have read that the Madeleine sponge cake is associated with a French religious tradition.  That tradition has Mary Magdalene, Sainte Marie-Madeleine in French, arriving in France, by boat from the Holy Land. Then Mary Magdalene is said to have brought Christianity to France, and that was over 2,000 years ago.  However, let us face it, Mary Magdalene would not have come with sponge cakes, and sponge cakes were not part of French cuisine 2,000 years ago.  Despite that, she did bring to France the name Madeleine. The town of  Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue,  on the Mediterranean coast, holds a once yearly memorable, and impressive, French Roma, Gypsy, festival; shades of the DaVinci Code.  That festival re-enacts the arrival of three saints. Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and their black servant Sara. Saint Sarah became the patron saint of the Roma.
   
Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer
www.flickr.com/photos/aschaf/4830446707/

and its French and Spanish religious connection
   
The scallop shell itself has a religious connection. That connection is built around traditions honoring St James, Saint-Jacques in French, Santiago in Spanish. The King Scallop is called the Saint-Jacques in French.  St James was a disciple of Jesus Christ and is the Patron Saint of Spain.  French and other pilgrims from all over the world still follow a pilgrimage trail called The Way of St James. They follow the signs of the scallop shell through France and Spain. The pilgrimage leads to the assumed resting place of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
  
Plaque with scallop relief
At the entrance of a church that is part of the "Way of St. James" a pilgrimage route leading to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
www.flickr.com/photos/overhere/222026959/
  
St James is said to be buried in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The cathedral is in the city of Santiago de Compostela, the capital of the Spanish province of Galicia.  The scallop shell is the personal sign of St James.
  

Today the city of Santiago de Compostela is also well known also for its excellent restaurants; many of them are seafood restaurants. When the scallop meat is served in its shell on a French-language menu it will read Coquille Saint-Jacques; the French word coquille just means shell.  Scallops are rarely cooked in their attractive shells, though many may be served on them. Serving a cooked scallop on a scallop shell is a part of attractive restaurant theater.
   
Scallops on the half shell
www.flickr.com/photos/stone-soup/290079986/
  
Paris’s La Madeleine Church.
  
The most famous Madeleine church is in Paris. The site was first built on as a synagogue; then, in 1183, the site was taken from the Jews. Following on, a variety of churches were then built on the site, demolished and built again. Finally, after the church had been demolished again and left as an empty building site Emperor Napoleon I, entered the picture. Napoleon decided the site should become a temple raised to the glory of the soldiers of his Grande Armée. Building began in 1806 with the architect Pierre-Alexandre Vignon drawing the plans that included many obvious Greek and Roman influences. 
   
La Madeleine, Paris.
www.flickr.com/photos/emiliodelprado/223102483/
   
Napoleon’s plans for The Arc de Triumph made him place his Temple of Glory on the back burner, when, as often was the case, his government was short of money. The two enormous national remembrance projects could not be financed and completed together. Later, with Napoleon’s defeat by the combined armies of the European monarchies and his own exile, along with the return of the French monarchy, changes would be made. King Louis XVIII, the brother of King Louis XVI, who had been beheaded in the revolution, decided that the building, with only a few changes in the plans, would once again be the Eglise de La Madeleine, the Madeleine Church. In 1842, the church that you see today was consecrated and today holds religious ceremonies as well as classical music concerts.
  
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019
 
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