Traditional Acadian Christmas cookie will be in the spotlight at celebration Sunday
'There was a time when Christmas was much simpler than it is today'
On Sunday afternoon, people will gather at the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, P.E.I. for an annual Christmas celebration.
And this year, attendees will look back on an old Acadian Christmas tradition.
Island historian Georges Arsenault will give a presentation on traditional Acadian Christmas cuisine, and people will compete to see who can make the best naulet, a Christmas treat from many decades ago.
"It was a little kind of a bread doll that the parents made," Arsenault said.
'The only gift a child got at Christmas'
Arsenault describes naulet as looking somewhat similar to a gingerbread man — but made of white pastry, such as bread or sugar cookie dough, and typically decorated with raisins. He says the tradition appears to have originated in France.
He says generations ago, Acadian children in the Maritimes would receive the doll-shaped biscuits on Christmas.
"In those days there was no Christmas tree, there was no stockings, and Santa Claus hadn't discovered the Acadian communities yet," Arsenault said.
"And the only gift that a child got at Christmas was a naulet from the godparents."
He remembers hearing about naulets from his mother, who would tell stories about her great-uncle receiving them as a child in the 1860s.
"I remember my mother, when she was making bread and there was some dough left over, she'd make a little naulet and she'd tell me that story."
Tradition lasted into 1920s
Arsenault says the tradition died down over the years, as bought gifts and other traditions became more popular. But in some families, it continued into the 20th century.
"When the Christmas stocking was introduced, some parents would put a few naulet, or one naulet in the stocking. And there are some people I met that remember getting those naulets in the 1920s."
There was a time when Christmas was much simpler than it is today.–Georges Arsenault
The treats were special and highly anticipated, he said, and children would often keep them as a souvenir for a day or two before eating them.
For this year's Christmas celebration, organizers are inviting people to try making naulets, which will be judged in a competition — all part of revisiting this old Christmas tradition.
"I thought it would be a good way to remind people there was a time when Christmas was much simpler than it is today," Arsenault said.
The event will take place Sunday, Dec.16, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Acadian Museum of P.E.I.
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With files from Mainsteet P.E.I.