However, Clementines, a small, sweet variety of tangerine with orange-red skin, are very much in season. When the Clementines appear on the shelves in the supermarket, you now that Saint Nicolas (Dec 6th) and winter are on their way.
The best clementines are those that still have
some leaves
some leaves
On Saturday, ‘Saint Nicolas’ will arrive by steamer in the port of Antwerp; a yearly event that time and time again attracts a lot of people with small children. Since a few years the arrival of Nicolas in Antwerp marks the official kick-off of the Saint Nicolas sales period. As from Saturday supermarkets are therefore allowed to hire a surrogate Nicolas to promote the sales of toys.
This rule was introduced a few years ago as there used to be a lot of abuse, with some stores featuring ‘Saints’ as early October 1st.
You’ll find more information about the legend and the tradition of Saint Nicolas in a post I did last year on the subject.
4 comments:
St Nicolas! my favorite!
Nadege, I suppose you used to sing this song too wehn you were a little girl:
"Ô grand Saint Nicolas,
Patron des écoliers,
Apporte-moi des pommes
Dans mon petit panier.
Je serai toujours sage
Comme une petite image.
J'apprendrai mes leçons
Pour avoir des bonbons."
;) Martine
Martine, I like your song! I also would be happy to study for candy.
Carolyn, It's a very old song and I don't think that kids nowadays can be coaxed into studying hard by promising them just candy. A computer game or a cell phone maybe, but certainly not candy ;)
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