In January, some of my friends at the Fondation des États-Unis got together to share the traditional galette des rois (the “cake of kings”). I had never heard of the galette des rois before, so it was a great opportunity to learn more about this tradition that’s so widespread in the francophone parts of the world.
The galette des rois is a seasonal cake eaten in France (as well as in several other French-speaking parts of Europe and Canada) in January. Don’t think of cake as in a birthday cake, though - the galette des rois looks more like a large pastry with no icing, a little bit like a big pancake. It has an almond flavor, and always has a small porcelain or plastic figurine baked inside it. The idea is that you get together with friends and/or family to eat the galette, and whoever discovers the figurine in their slice is the crowned king or queen of the evening! Like many traditions, it’s evolved in some ways over time; part of the tradition that isn’t universally followed anymore is to have a child underneath the table deciding who gets each piece, to ensure that it’s completely random who gets the piece with the figurine.
