Until last week, I had never heard of la galette des rois. However, on my first day back at school, all the students were invited to a la galette des rois celebration at the end of the school day. There were two different types of cakes along with cider and other beverages for us to enjoy. Gold paper crowns decorated the table. That evening, I watched a T.V. progam about the production of these traditional cakes on the news. Then Patricia told me she was going to host a gathering for la galette des rois this weekend. She briefly told me about the history of the celebration. Curious to find out more, I headed to that source of all information - the Internet. Here is a bit of what I discovered.
The second is called a gâteau des rois or royaume. It is a circular brioche cake topped with sticky candied fruit and sugar. Apparently, it is more popular here in the south of France although I have certainly seen both.
A lucky charm or trinket (originally a bean or une fève) is placed inside the cake. Whoever finds it in their slice of cake is crowned king or the queen for the day and often wears a paper crown that accompanies the cake when it is sold. It is customary to consume these cakes with white wine, cider or champagne.
Today, Patricia hosted a celebration for 12 - 8 adults and 4 kids. There was one of each type of cake and cider to accompany both. I tried a small piece of each - delicious! Interesting to note, the party began at 5:00 p.m. Eating cake before an evening meal is contrary to what I'm used to, but then again there are a lot of "firsts" for me on this journey.
Here's to la galette des rois!
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