Have a look at the recipe published by the Globe & Mail for la Galette des Rois ( by clicking on the title of this post), a cake behind good moments at the table with family or friends throughout the month of January. January 6 is the day of the kings, ie the day when the wise men, following a special star in the sky, would have arrived to visit baby Jesus. In France, a country with dwindling amount of practicing Catholics, it is more of an excuse to keep the spirit of the holiday season alive and wish each other new year wishes over a good desert. The lucky charm hidden in the cake,
la fève, makes it a favourite of young and old gourmets. In fact the tradition goes that whoever gets the lucky charm, aside from becoming the King or Queen of the day and wearing the paper crown, gets to buy the next cake and a bottle of champagne. This cake sharing ritual can therefore go on throughout the entire month of Janurary, a pleasant way to transition into a new year after the feasts of the holidays.
The North of France serves la
galette parisienne, a cake with some almond paste in a puff pastry that is proposed in the Globe and Mail. It is not very different from a traditional cake found year round in France called
frangipane but includes a lucky charm and gets sold with the paper crown. You can easily find la
galette parisienne in North American French pastry shops. I like to get ours at
Ma Maison in the West end of Toronto. In the South of France, la galette des rois is totally different: shaped like a large donut with crystals of iced sugar and fruit confits on top, no filling, just a light raised dough with similarities to a
brioche, with of course the lucky charm hidden inside. You have to try both. The one from the South, only available at this time of the year, brings back good childhood memories so I am a bit biased. I have never seen it sold in North America yet. In my region, pastry shops can develop quite a reputation for whoever has the best one. We used to say Etchebaster in St Jean de Luz, and Mauriac in Bayonne when I was a kid. I am not completely up to speed on French Southwest galette des rois rankings any longer but the ones I had this year in various homes did hit the spot! Yes we had an early start, we started eating it right after Christmas as pastry shops have jumped on the marketing bandwagon. The wise men must be travelling by TGVs this day and get to destinations faster....
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