St. Catherine's taffy

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St. Catherine's Taffy (French : tire de Sainte-Catherine) is a variety of taffy made by French-Canadian families to celebrate the feast day of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, which takes place annually on November 25. [1] [2]

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Origins

St. Catherine's Taffy is a candy made by girls in French-Canadian families to honour St. Catherine, the patron saint of unmarried women on her feast day, November 25. [3] St. Catherine's day is sometimes known in Franco Canadian families as "taffy day", a day when marriage-age girls would make taffy for eligible boys. [4] Marguerite Bourgeoys, a founder of the Notre-Dame de Montréal and an early teacher at Ville-Marie, the colonial settlement that would later become Montreal, is credited with starting the tradition as a way of keeping the attention of her young students. [1] [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 Slyvestre, Paul-François. "La tire Sainte-Catherine, une tradition qui se perd". L'express. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  2. Brault, Gerard J. (1986). The French-Canadian heritage in New England. Hanover: Univ. Press of New England [u.a.] p. 29. ISBN   978-0-87451-359-2.
  3. Banjack, Bette (2016-03-17). "THE TABLE: Quebec, Canada". The Phoenix Reporter & Item. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. "St. Catherine's Feast Day Around the World | St. Catherine's Monastery". stcatherines.mused.org. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  5. Duncan, Dorothy (2010). Feasting and fasting: Canada's heritage celebrations. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 270. ISBN   978-1-55488-757-6.