La Fête des Rois
Come celebrate La Fête des Rois with Café Campagne and have a chance to win a $100 gift certificate!
What is La Fête des Rois?
The Magi, the three kings that visited the infant Jesus, took twelve days to travel to Bethlehem. This travel has become known as the 12 days of Christmas. The day of their arrival, what is now January 6th, is now celebrated by much of the Christian world as the Epiphany, l’Épiphanie in French.
This tradition has been continued through the centuries and in France, La Fête des Rois (translated as the Feast of Kings) is observed throughout the month of January. The Galette des Rois, a puff pastry cake filled with rich frangipane (a delicious almond paste) is an integral part of the French custom. It can be purchased at almost any neighborhood boulangerie (bakery). From the store, the cake usually comes with a paper crown and has a small figurine (called the fève, originally a Fava bean) actually baked into the cake!
On Epiphany, friends and family get together and the cake is served by slices to the attendees. Whoever receives the slice with the fève is crowned the King or Queen of the party and is thereby elected to host a Fête des Rois the following week.
This tradition varies throughout France. In certain areas, the Galette actually has a bean and a figurine. In that case, the person who gets the figurine is the King or Queen and the person who receives the bean hosts the next Fête. Furthermore, you can find variations on the Galette in Latin American countries (known as La Rosca de Reyes) and the American South during Mardi Gras (King’s Cake). These are all very different types of cake, with candied fruit in Mexico and colorful frosting in New Orleans.
At Café Campagne, we’re celebrating La Fête des Rois by offering La Galette des Rois on our dessert menu. And don’t think for a second we’re leaving out the fun of the fève! If you find the fève in your slice of galette (we’re using the traditional Fava bean), you get a $100 gift certificate!
Hope to see you soon!
