adminIn 2015, Epiphany falls on today, Tuesday January 6th !!!
What is the Epiphany?
The Epiphany represents the twelfth day of Christmas, when the wise men visited baby Jesus. According to tradition, the “galette des rois”, was to “draw the kings” to the Epiphany.
What do we eat?
Composed of a puff pastry cake, with a small charm called “the fève”, hidden inside, it is usually filled with frangipane, a cream made from sweet almonds, butter, eggs and sugar. In the south of France, they usually eat a brioche with candied fruits.
The “fève” (originally a bean but now tends to be a plastic trinket 🙁 ) is baked inside the cake and the cake is shared around the table. Today, the diversity of lucky charms is so important that people collect them. It is called “favophilie”.
How do we celebrate it?
“La fête des Rois” is still very much a family tradition. We all love to gather around “La galette des Rois” on or around the 6th January, (usually, the first Sunday of each New Year) and share a moment with friends and family.
According to tradition, the youngest person (child or adult) hides under the table and chooses who gets the selected slice. So the person who is serving says “ Who is this one for ??” and the person who is under the table says the name of the person who is getting this slice ” for Sarah, Paul etc…”
The whole tradition is called “tirer les rois” literally meaning “to draw the kings”.
So, when you “tire les rois” whoever receives the fève is then crowned king or queen for the day. That same person can also choose someone to be their king or queen.
Bonne galette les amis !
