Alsatian Christmas food from bredele to vin chaud
Much of what you remember about a Strasbourg Christmas comes in a paper bag or a warm mug. The chalets sell biscuits by the bag and gingerbread by the slab, with mulled wine in red or white to wash them down, while the winstubs serve the heavier dishes once you sit down. This guide goes through what to look for and where we know it is sold, then compares the two food tours.
Vin chaud in red or white
Mulled wine (vin chaud) is the drink of the markets, and almost every square pours it. Red is the default. The local twist is a white made with Alsace wine, and two places we can name serve it. One is the food market on the Palais Rohan terrace and Place du Marché-aux-Poissons; the other is La Tribu des Gourmets, which also has a stall on Place Saint-Étienne. On Place Broglie, Chez Mathilde's hot red wine draws locals after work, usually a good sign. A mug costs a few euros, and we leave out exact prices because we have not checked them.
Drinks come in reusable mugs, with a deposit added to your first order. Hand the mug back and the deposit comes back to you, or keep it as a souvenir and let the deposit go. If you are skipping alcohol, hot apple juice is common at the same stalls, and children like it too.
Bredele by the bag
Bredele are the small Christmas biscuits that Alsatian families bake every December, and the stalls sell them by the bag to everyone without an oven. A mixed bag usually includes several of these:
- Butter bredele cut into Christmas shapes, with a plain, crumbly bite
- Anise biscuits, pale with a fragrant flavor that divides the table
- Cinnamon stars, topped with a white glaze
- Spritz, piped butter biscuits in ridged strips or rings
In Petite France, look for bredele at the Moulin de Hurtigheim stall on Place Louise-Weiss. Boulangerie l'Eden on Place du Temple-Neuf bakes gluten-free ones, a rare find for visitors who cannot eat wheat.
Gingerbread and kougelhopf
Pain d'épices is the Alsatian take on gingerbread. It comes plain or shaped into decorated hearts. The name locals mention first is Mireille Oster, whose gingerbread stall stands at the Christkindelsmärik on Place Broglie. Christstollen, the fruit loaf dusted with sugar, turns up on some stalls as well.
Kougelhopf (also spelled kugelhopf) is the ring-shaped yeast cake baked in a fluted mold that sits in every Alsatian bakery window. Bakers make small ones for the markets, and a mini kougelhopf is the first tasting on the Christmas market food tour.
Bretzels, tarte flambée and chestnuts
The savory side starts with the bretzel, Alsace's soft pretzel. Look for the bretzel gratiné, a heart-shaped bretzel baked under melted cheese, which the Christmas market food tour stops for on Place Gutenberg. Tarte flambée, or flammekueche in Alsatian, is a thin base spread with cream and topped with onion and bacon, cut into slices that are easy to eat standing up. Roasted chestnuts sold warm by the bag finish the list, and they double as hand warmers on a cold evening.
A proper dinner in a winstub
Market snacks stop being enough at some point. Then it is time for choucroute garnie in a winstub, one of the small Alsatian wine taverns. Expect sauerkraut cooked in wine under a heap of sausages and cured pork. In December those taverns fill up, and so do most restaurants in the old town, so book a table before you head out, especially at weekends. A winstub lunch also makes a warm plan for a wet afternoon, as our December weather guide suggests.
Two food tours compared
Do Eat Better runs both of the food walks we list, from the same meeting point at Place d'Austerlitz, just south-east of the island. They differ in what you end up eating.
| Tour | From | Length | What you eat | Drink | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional food tour | ~$90 | 3.5 h | A full meal over 4+ stops, choucroute included | One glass of Alsace wine (18+) | 4.9 from 813+ on Viator |
| Christmas market food tour | ~$62 | 2 h, from 3 pm | Tastings at the markets | Hot wine with honey (18+), or an alcohol-free drink | None yet |
The traditional food tour, from ~$90, meets by the bronze 3D map of the city and runs for 3.5 hours with 12 guests at most. It opens with charcuterie and soft bretzels and stops at a fromagerie for cheese. The main course is choucroute garnie with a glass of Alsace wine, and the seasonal dessert might be kougelhopf or a tarte flambée sweetened with apple and cinnamon. Reviewers praise guides such as Raphael and Loubna and describe a history walk with food along the way; some mention shops that shrink-wrap cheese and sausage so you can take it home. It costs about $111 on GetYourGuide. The catch is the drinks, since only one alcoholic glass is included, and tips come on top. Stops are 10–15 minutes' walk apart, and the tour does not suit guests with reduced mobility.
Lunch as a walk through the old town
In three and a half hours with a dozen guests at most, four or more stops add up to a full meal, from charcuterie and cheese to choucroute and dessert, from ~$90. Come hungry, and budget for extra drinks and a tip.
The Christmas market food tour, from ~$62, is the shorter option, two hours from 3 pm, which leaves you on the squares as the lights come on. It begins with a mini kougelhopf on Place du Corbeau and a bretzel gratiné on Place Gutenberg. After a pass by the cathedral square it ends in Petite France with pain d'épices. It costs about $63 on Viator. Its catch is that the listing is new and has no reviews yet, although the operator's traditional tour has more than 800 on Viator, and you get tastings rather than a meal.
For a drink without the food, Bretzel&Fun's Christmas market by night, from ~$50, walks six guests at most from Place Saint-Étienne at dusk for 1.5 hours. The route takes in the Place Kléber tree and the quieter corners locals use, ending with an Alsatian mulled wine or hot juice. Guests also receive a list of restaurants on WhatsApp. The catch is that it sells on GetYourGuide only and has few reviews (23, all perfect), and dusk is when the lanes are at their fullest.
What to carry home
For edible souvenirs, head to the Irréductibles Petits Producteurs Alsaciens market on Places Louise-Weiss and Suzanne-Lacore in Petite France, where Alsatian producers sell their own food (cheese, beer, honey, jams, flour). Bredele and gingerbread travel well in a suitcase. Check labels on anything that looks mass-produced, since not every chalet sells local food. If you are in town on 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day, look in the bakeries for manala, sweet brioche figures of a little man that children adore (more in Strasbourg at Christmas with kids).
Market hours shift a little from year to year, and the city publishes the final program shortly before the season. Our dates and hours guide tells you when to check it. For the stalls themselves, read our guide to Place Broglie and Petite France and the cathedral. The winegrowers' cauldron of mulled wine in Obernai is one more reason to see the Christmas markets in Alsace.