Cooking workshop - Galette des rois
This Event has been postponed to 24th February.
Galettes des rois (King cakes) are full of history. They first appeared in Roma, during an ancient Roman festival called
Saturnalia. The tradition was used to appease Saturn: to avoid chaos, a role
reversal was orchestrated. Slaves gathered around a cake, and the youngest of them went under the table to randomly assign pieces of cake.
The slave who obtained the fava bean became the Prince of Saturnalia and was able to do whatever he wanted for a whole day - including
ordering his master around. The next day, the Prince of Saturnalia would go back to his servile life.
King cakes and their lucky draw ritual remained used through centuries to celebrate the winter solstice. During the Middle Age, they were
incorporated into the Christian festivities of the Epiphany and associated with the Three Wise Men. It is said that
the one receiving the good luck had to pay for the other guests - to avoid it, some winners would swallow the bean fava. Later, in the
XVIIIe century, fava beans were replaced with charms. Made with porcelain, the new treasures hidden in the cakes represented fishes and
bathers, both Christian symbols. The following century introduced frangipane as a traditional ingredient of the king cake.
Nowadays, charms come in all kind of shapes, even if Christian symbols remain well spread. Fava beans are rarely seen, but
we occasionally get one. France is the country where king cakes are most popular at this time of the year. We still ask the youngest
guest to go under the table
and decide who gets which slice of the cake. The king of the day receives a crown - as this delights kids, adults tend to cheat and make
sure that the charm is in one of their plates. While other types of cake have become popular as well, like ones made with orange flower
water and candied fruits in the south of France, frangipane cakes remain the most iconic ones.
You know more about galettes des rois's origins than most French people. Are you ready to learn how to make them as well?