La Galette Des Rois
LA GALETTE DES ROIS (click here for the recipe in French)
Have you ever dreamt of being a king or a queen? Now’s your chance! You have from the end of December until about mid-January to make your dream come true! Let me explain…
Every 6th of January in France (or the Sunday before/after), people sit down to eat a very special cake, La Galette des Rois, to celebrate the Epiphany – the day the kings Melchior, Gaspard and Balthazar first met baby Jesus.
The traditional Galette des Rois (the Kings’ Cake) is a tasty, buttery kind of pie filled with an almond based cream called la frangipane. But in the South of France you can find a variation on this Galette: a round-shaped sweet bread sprinkled with colorful bits of preserved fruit and with sugar.
What’s special about both desserts? La Fève.
La fève has been hiding in the Galette des Rois for centuries already! Originally a broad bean, it now also refers to various little objects such as porcelain representations of the kings, of baby Jesus, or even plastic tokens in the shape of the sames or of other random objects (a heart, a crown, etc.). And yes, this shapeshifting element (see picture below) is what we hide in the Galette.
So, how’s that got to do with your becoming a king or queen? Well, before any crowning can happen, everybody needs to sit down at the table to eat the galette. The youngest person there traditionally hides under the table, or at least turns around, and calls out the names of the people present, thus designating who should get which slice of cake. When everybody is served, you can enjoy the dessert and whoever gets the “fève” ends up with a lovely golden paper crown, and his/her first new responsibility will be to buy the next galette!
So try it out now! If you can’t find a Galette des Rois in your neighborhood, just make your own, it’s fun! Click here to get the recipe. It’s in French, a perfect way to work on your language skills, your cooking skills, and to make your dream of becoming royalty, a reality – so to speak…
Bonne galette!! Et vive le roi et la reine d’un jour!!!
Soso
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