Cougnou
Encyclopedia
The cougnou or bread of Jesus is a bread baked during Christmas
time and is typical of the southern Low Countries
.
It has various names according to the location:
The bread of Jesus is a sweet bread formed like a baby Jesus
. It is made with flour, eggs, milk, yeast, raisins and sugar. Usually, it is given to children on Christmas and St. Martin's Day
and usually enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate
. This bread seems to have originated in ancient Hainaut but the bread of Jesus is now spread throughout the southern Low Countries. It is usually decorated, also differently across the provinces: with terracotta circles (called Rond) in Hainaut and Romance Flanders, with incisions in Cambraisis, elsewhere it is with flowers, sugar...
The Rond were traditionally made with clay coming from Baudour
but are now made with plaster.
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time and is typical of the southern Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
.
It has various names according to the location:
- Coquille in Romance FlandersRomance FlandersRomance Flanders or Gallicant Flanders is the part of the county of Flanders where people speak Romance languages, like varieties of Picard. It currently straddles the border of France and Belgium.-Name:...
(LilleLilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
and TournaiTournaiTournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
), - Cougnolle or similar in ancient HainautCounty of HainautThe County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
(Cognolle in Mons), - Cougnou in WalloonWalloon languageWalloon is a Romance language which was spoken as a primary language in large portions of the Walloon Region of Belgium and some villages of Northern France until the middle of the 20th century. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, whose most prominent member is the French language...
-speaking places like CharleroiCharleroiCharleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
, AndenneAndenneAndenne is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Namur. On January 1, 2006 Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which gives a population density of 292 inhabitants per km². The city extends on both sides of the river Meuse...
, NamurNamur (city)Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
, DinantDinantDinant is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse in the Belgian province of Namur, Belgium. The Dinant municipality includes the old communes of Anseremme, Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes, and Thynes.-Origins to...
but also in ArdennesArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, in the GaumeGaumeGaume is a region in the far south of Belgium. Situated at a lower altitude than the Ardennes, it is delineated by borders with France, Luxembourg and the Belgian Ardennes. Gaume is the roman part of the Belgian Lorraine region...
etc. - Quéniolle in CambraiCambraiCambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
sis, - Volaeren or Folarts in West FlemishWest FlemishWest Flemish , , , Fransch vlaemsch in French Flemish) is a group of dialects or regional language related to Dutch spoken in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France....
-speaking French FlandersFrench FlandersFrench Flanders is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France. The region today lies in the modern-day region of Nord-Pas de Calais, the department of Nord, and roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Lille, Douai and Dunkirk on the Belgian border.-Geography:French...
like Dunkirk.
The bread of Jesus is a sweet bread formed like a baby Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. It is made with flour, eggs, milk, yeast, raisins and sugar. Usually, it is given to children on Christmas and St. Martin's Day
St. Martin's Day
St. Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martin le Miséricordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding is completed. Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers...
and usually enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate
Hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
. This bread seems to have originated in ancient Hainaut but the bread of Jesus is now spread throughout the southern Low Countries. It is usually decorated, also differently across the provinces: with terracotta circles (called Rond) in Hainaut and Romance Flanders, with incisions in Cambraisis, elsewhere it is with flowers, sugar...
The Rond were traditionally made with clay coming from Baudour
Baudour
Baudour is a village near the Belgian towns of Saint-Ghislain and Mons in the province of Hainaut.*Henri Delmotte was born in Baudour...
but are now made with plaster.