Your own, personal, (Mini) Jesus
What you’re looking at here is a Mini Jesus de Lyon (also available on a larger scale as Jesus de Lyon). How did Jesus get some pork sausages named after him? I asked a variety of French friends but none of them knew. So I turned to Google. Nobody there seems sure either. But here are two of the most common reasonings:
- The presentation of sausage, wrapped in string, is similar to Jesus-era baby swaddling (one comment said: “When you’re hungry you must be hallucinating”).
- “The sausage was made ββin the late winter and traditionally eaten at Christmas.”
Either way, Jesus, who was known for turning water into wine and stuff, has clearly inspired the Lyonnaise: the French have turned a Jew into a pork sausage.
Now, to get entirely off track. Seeing the Mini Jesus reminds me of the Baby Jesus (or cheeses) scene of Kath and Kim – an Australian comedy show about a mother and adult daughter from the less affluent suburbs of Melbourne. Kath, the mum, wants a statue of baby Jesus at her second wedding, and Kym takes care of it:
Cheesy in more than one way, huh? Back to the Mini Jesus saucisson. If nothing else, at least I can honestly say: “Jesus is everywhere” when I walk into a sausage shop in France. In fact, Jesus is on sandwiches, in lunch boxes, and being served with cheese all over France.
Ha ha ha, you crack me up, Wendy.
Turn a jew into a pork sausage. Classic!
Thanks Ron. π You’d think it’d be blasphemous to do so in such a Catholic country!