Why are dinner candles unscented?
Because the food is the scent. A fig or amber candle next to a plate of roast chicken is two smells arguing, and dinner loses. That is why the candles on a French table are plain: white or ivory, tall or short, no fragrance at all.
We light candles at dinner. They are there for the light, not the smell.
Where does the scented candle go?
Somewhere you sit after dinner, not where you eat: the living room, the entry, a corner with a chair. One scent for the house is plenty. Five scents in five rooms make a house smell like a shop.
When do you light them?
Before anyone arrives, so the room is already glowing when the door opens, never as an afterthought halfway through the starter. And with the ceiling light off. In our house the overhead light stays off in the evening: lamps, dimmed, and the candles. That is the whole mood.
Try it at home
Make Your Home Feel French
Four taps: your room, what it smells like now, how much you want to change. Six small things, the French way.
Get my ritualSnuff, don’t blow
Blowing out a candle sends smoke and a smell of wick across the room. A snuffer, or simply pinching the flame with a little bell, puts it out cleanly. When the candle is out, put a glass bell over it: it keeps dust off the wax, and an unlit candle under glass looks finished on a shelf.
How many candles?
Fewer than you think. Two on the dinner table, one in the living room. With lamps doing the real work, candles only need to add warmth.
If you want the whole ritual for your own room, take the two-minute home ritual.
Questions, answered
Should dinner candles be scented?
No. Candles on the dinner table should be unscented so nothing competes with the food. Keep scented candles for another room.
Where should you put a scented candle?
In a room where you do not eat, such as the living room or the entry. One scent for the house is enough.
When should you light candles for guests?
Before they arrive, so the room is already lit when they come in.
Should you blow out a candle?
It is better to snuff it, which avoids smoke and the smell of the wick. Then cover it with a glass bell to keep dust off.
How many candles do you need?
Fewer than you think: two on the dinner table and one elsewhere, with lamps doing most of the lighting.
Sources
- Tasting Table: why scented candles do not belong on a dinner table. Tasting Table
- Vanilla Bean Cuisine, French candle etiquette: unscented at the table, lit before guests arrive, snuffed rather than blown out. Vanilla Bean Cuisine
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
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