After a Christmas & New Year’s eve food fest, French people keep eating!
Since the 14th century, French people have been eating La galette des rois (King cake) on the 6th of January to celebrate the Epiphany, the arrival of the Tree Wise men. Nowadays, regardless of religious background we all eat this yummy cake with family and friends during the whole of January.
All ages enjoy seeing who will be lucky enough to find the fève (a small porcelain or plastic figure hidden in the cake) and be crowned the “King” (le roi) or “Queen” (la reine). You then get to wear a golden paper crown (couronne) and choose a royal counterpart. In some families, the King or Queen is asked to buy the next galette. Each cake is followed by another and so it’s eaten throughout the month 🙂
I still remember going under the table when I was the youngest child to call out the name of the person who would receive the next slice of cake. The youngest person is said to be the most innocent. So this was obviously a fair way of distributing the cake to avoid any accusations of cheating haha 🙂
In the North of France, the cake is made of puff pastry and frangipane (almond paste). You can also find different versions with apple, caramel, pear, chocolate,…. However, in the South of France, it is a crown shaped brioche filled with candied fruits.
