St. Catherine's taffy

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.

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. 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. 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.

References

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