Serge the Concierge

Having an Epiphany on January 6 with Galette des Rois, a French Treat

January 06, 2010 by serge the concierge

Many countries in 2010 marked the Epiphany or Twelfth Night on January 3.

If you are a stickler for tradition, as I am in some instances, you might want to stick with the official date of January 6.

Especially if you grew up with the Galette des Rois tradition where a bite on the Feve would give Queens the right to pick their Kings and Kings to choose their Queens, if only for a day.

This goes way back if I am to trust France in London which tells us that La Feve (the "charm") "was, until the 1960s, a real dried bean, but since, little ceramic figures are used, generating a collectors' and trading business."

They also trace the "galette" origins way back.

"The oldest finding of the "Galette des rois" goes back to 1311, where a chart of Robert, bishop of Amiens, talks about a custom to "draw the kings" with a light fluffy galette. during the French Revolution, the name was replaced with "galette of Equality", because there was no more kings."

Even though France in London suggests a number of French Bakeries as proper stops for a 'Galette des Rois', they concur with Waitrose in picking Bagatelle as the best in show.

Waitrose in An Epiphany Treat from France tells us that Bagatelle will bake no less than a Couple Thousands galettes for the celebration which now stretches from post Christmas until well into January.

The best homage to La Galette des Rois that I found Comes from Cristina of From Buenos Aires to Paris, a teacher turned pastry chef in the city of lights.

Don't you feel like taking a bite a her creation (pictured above)

Posted on January 06, 2010 in Consumer Products, Event, Food and Drink, Gift Ideas, Personal Organizer, Photography, Serge the Concierge, To Do Lists, Travel, Vacations, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (2)

Previous Post

Contrarians, The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones

Jan 5

More often than not people who have company feel sorry for solo eaters even though in our tech filled lives being with someone does not always mean that the others are there. They might be physically present but their mind is somewhere else. In light of this, I thought that Judith Jones decision to write The Pleasures of Cooking for One (Knopf, September 09) is quite refreshing. As the publisher's introduction notes, when you cook...

Next Post

Classic Album Covers, Royal Mail Stamp Rock Collection, Available January 7

Jan 6

10 Album Covers, 10 Artists from the UK, 10 Stamps A New Collection of Stamps, Classic Album Covers is released by the Royal Mail on January 7, 2010. Runs the gamut of styles musically as you can see from Mike Oldfield to Coldplay... Want all the details, Norvic Philatelics covers it all, album by album...