Join us on 4th February 2012 as we gather to celebrate a french tradition: La Galette des Rois.
In France, this festivity takes place beginning of January but we will allow ourselves to recover from our Christmas festive indulgences and will celebrate it this year a month later.
In France, on the Eve of Epiphany, which falls on the 6th of January, twelve days after Christmas, people eat the galette des Rois “the king’s cake”, a puff pastry with almond cream, but with a trinket (usually a porcelain figurine of a king) or a bean (la fève) hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket or the bean becomes “king” for a day. Other popular traditions, include having the youngest member of the gathering sit under the table and designate to whom each piece of cake should be served.
The cake is eaten in celebration of the arrival of the three kings who have traveled from afar with gifts for the newborn baby.
If you look around the patisseries and supermarkets in France at the beginning of January, you simply can’t miss out “la galette des rois”. They’re everywhere, and they’re not only filled with the traditional frangipane, but with chocolate or fruit as well.