Galette des Rois

Bonjour mes amis! Last evening, January 6, Lee, Kendall and I went over to Eric Merle's flat to celebrate La fête des Rois. Eric is one of my colleagues in the English Department at Lycée Vaugelas. Epiphany, or "La fête des Rois" in France, January 6, is a festival that dates back almost 2000 years. It is celebrated in most Catholic countries and communities. With this celebration, the Christmas season reaches its peak, with the arrival of the three kings with gifts for the newborn baby Jesus. There were Gaspar, Balthazar and Melchior with their three presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In some villages, they still light "kings'fires" which are reminders of the fires which, according to legend, burned that night in Bethlehem to hide the star from King Herrod. La Galette des Rois is a round cake, made of puff pastry and frangipane, which is cut into pieces and distributed by a child, known as "le petit roi"(the little king) or l'enfant soleil, who hides under the table. Whoever finds la fève(the charm inside) is King or Queen and can choose a partner. A little bean was traditionally hidden inside the cake, a custom taken from the Roman Empire. Since 1870, the beans have been replaced by porcelain and, now by plastic figurine Eric served a wonderful traditional Savoyard dinner including ratatouille, boudin blanc, le rouget, le canard, la salade, tapenade, la courge(winter squash), and concluded his dinner with the Galette des Rois. Guess who received the fève???

Mme. Wallace