Today, according to the story told to G by her teachers and then transmitted shorthand to us, is the day to celebrate when the three kings went to visit the newly-born baby Jesus. And because of this, families all over France -- ourselves included -- are eating Galette des Rois for dessert. It's a round disk of very flaky puff pastry with a frangipane/sweet almond paste center. Very simple and suprisingly good. Not suprisingly, eating it makes a huge mess.
But the point of a Galette des Rois is not the taste, though that's nice. The point is to see who will get the fève (little "favor" made of ceramic) that is baked into the cake. Children at schools, whether religious or not, generally have a Galette des Rois celebration and, sure enough, both of our girls are wearing crowns when I pick them up after school today. G tells me excitedly that she was the one in her class who got the fève! Yeah! Except that P did not get the fève, now or ever (everybody in her class got a crown) and we get to hear about that for the rest of the day.
After dinner, I cut up the Galette and, thank God, I hit just the right spot to feel the fève as I'm cutting. Of course that is the piece that ends up P's plate because Hell hath no fury like a six year old whose sister gets a fève but she does not. And so, all are happy.
Hard to see in the photos, but G's fève is a cute little alien guy, and P's is a pretty ring. Traditionally, they would have been baby Jesuses -- baby Jesii? -- (when the fève tradition started in the late 1700s) or little Kings (more recently centuries), but we even have a couple in the house that are Avatars, from the film. So fève are very hip and rolling with the times.
Further note on the Galette des Rois tradition: Usually, the person who finds the fève is responsible for picking a king or queen to "reign" with them for the day. I know one couple in San Francisco who both attended a French-immersion school as children and did the whole Galette tradition in class. He got the fève in third grade, I think, and picked her as his queen and now, approximately 40 years later, they are married and send their children to the same French school in San Francisco. Beware the power of the fève!
And on another note: They haven't really taken all the Bûche de Noël out of the bakeries yet. It's two weeks after Christmas! Who is still buying them? And will there be a "must-buy" pastry every month? Perhaps that's how they keep so many patisseries in business.
1 comment:
Sounds similar to that tradition from New Orleans with the toy in the pastry, but I can't remember what time of year or holiday.
I remember the Buche Noel cakes everywhere when I was in Paris one Christmas visiting friends. They look difficult to make but all the pastries there are super delicious.
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