Saturday, 1 October 2011

Galette des Rois !


For my post, I'm going to tell you about one of my favorite French traditions-"La fete du Roi".
This tradition first started in France as early as 1651, and is celebrated by French families in the second week of November. It is an event very much anticipated by both adults and children. It is baked to celebrate epiphany.
A galette can only be described as a sort of north American pie, but way better.
It is made by using pastry dough and an almond cream filling called frangipane. However, the secret is that there is a small ceramic figurine  randomly placed inside the galette by the chef at the time of baking. After the meal, the galette is presented and everybody eagerly awaits for their slice, hoping they don't break a tooth when they crunch down on the feve. If they are lucky enough to find the feve they are crowned king and get to choose their queen and wear a golden crown which accompanies the galette. Note that galettes are often bought at the bakery since they are not easy to bake.
I really enjoy this celebration as it has been in the family for as long as I can remember. I have only been crowned king once or twice.
This year, I am going to attempt to bake a galette on my own. I will be posting pics.
There is a lot of preparation involved, but it will be worth it.

5 comments:

  1. It is Lucas.
    I like how you talked about the traditions involved with galettes and said what it is made out of. The one thing you could talk more about is the preparation of the galette. Talk about why it takes a lot of preparation. Otherwise, I really like it.

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  2. I agree it does sound delicious and it is cool how you have the tradition behind it. I'm definitely a noob to cooking so I'd use it however I'd need more about the preparation.

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  3. Wow that sounds like a really cool tradition! But does the king get to keep the figurine after?

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  4. The galette sounds like its really tasty and the tradition looks like its lots of fun

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