Literally translated as “the fish of April” this name heralds the French version of April Fool's Day. The fish bit is peculiar to France, as the tradition doesn’t seem to have travelled anywhere else.
In addition to the pranks, jokes and hoaxes found in the UK; in France the tradition is also to hook a fish (usually paper nowadays) on the back of a person you want to make fun of without them noticing. When it’s discovered they become the poisson d’avril.
“Why?” you may well ask.
It may have been linked to the fact that April 1 is near the end of Lent, when it was potentially an object of derision with people having become bored with eating fish. Another explanation is that the beginning of April is the start of the fish spawning period when it was forbidden to fish in France. Or maybe the fact that the astrological sign of Pisces has recently ended. It may have just been someone finding smelly fish a funny joke - no one really knows. In the 1900s people sent an April 1 card decorated with fish as a token of friendship or love.
As with many traditions in France, there is a link to food. So whether it is the supermarkets, chocolatiers, or patisserie - you’ll find some sort of fish. Fish in sugar, fish-shaped boxes filled with candy, foil wrapped chocolate sardines, chocolate fish of all shapes and sizes, fish pastry filled with frangipane, fish shaped tarts .… and the fish theme keeps going through to Easter. Maybe we should try and see how many ways we can eat fish this week without actually eating fish!