The course of Christian holidays continues in France. After Christmas comes the Epiphany, celebration of the arrival of the Three Kings twelve days after the birth of Jesus. On paper, this party should take place on Friday January 6, on the official date, but this year the famous galette des rois will be eaten on Sunday January 8. Here’s why.
A distant origin
Since a reform dating from 1802, Epiphany is no longer officially celebrated on January 6 but on the first Sunday following January 1. Regularly, these celebrations occur a little earlier or a little later than the traditional date. When January 1 falls on a Sunday, like this year, we taste the galette des rois the following Sunday, explains TF1 Info.
The custom of the galette des rois dates back to Roman times or the Middle Ages. It seems directly linked to Saturnalia, a Roman festival celebrating the god Saturn and the sun. The cake, symbolizing the sun, was an opportunity to bring together masters and slaves, all envious of falling on the bean (the bean of the time). Whoever fell on it was crowned king of the feast.
Several patties
The current Galette des Rois comes from a French specialty from the 17th century: the pithiviers, a cake made of puff pastry and almond cream flavored with rum and vanilla – the famous frangipane. However, significant differences between galettes des rois remain today between regions.
In the far south of France, for example, it is customary to eat a king cake, a large sweet bread in the shape of a crown flavored with orange blossom, very common in the Iberian Peninsula. In the West, it may be pancakes made from shortbread. In any case, like every year, Epiphany is an opportunity for pastry chefs to start the year off right, with the French consuming an average of 30 million galettes in January.