So we returned to Paris on January 9th, and were surprised to find that Three Kings Day (or Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, take your pick) is still in full swing here. There were no signs of it before we left (on December 20th), so this was a new cultural experience for us.
The main feature of the celebration involves the consumption of Galettes des rois (that’s French for “King’s Cookies”). They are made and sold in pastry shops, mostly, but mass-produced galettes are available in our local chain supermarket.
The galette is a round flaky pastry filled with “frangipan” (an almond butter likely akin to marzipan) produced in a variety of sizes (the smallest, for two people, is just a bit bigger than a doughnut). The larger sizes (for 4, 6, or 8 people) come with a paper crown. Inside each galette is hidden a prize – a porcelain coin or figurine. In the most traditional serving of the galette, the youngest child in the family hides under the table and directs the person slicing the galette on the distribution around the table, giving the impression that the prize recipient is not dictated by the slicer.
Whoever gets the prize is the king and gets to wear the crown. Lots of kids have shown up wearing said crowns to Meredith’s school. Some of the crowns are really cheap and even sport Disney characters around them. The one we got from a nice bakery on a beautiful market street came with a very pretty fleur-de-lys (lily, the emblem of France) model.
It’s more of a breakfast pastry than dessert, but quite delicious. They were still available through the end of January, but I think they're finally gone now. Talk about stretching out your holidays! Bon appétit!
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