There's a special cake to celebrate the end of Christmas here in France. Today, Jan 6th, is the festival of epiphany, where you eat the Galette des Rois - the "cake of kings", to celebrate the three kings. The cake, a puff pastry filled with frangipane (almond paste), is only sold during this time of year - you can find them everywhere, not just in Dalloyau.
There's a cute game that goes along with it. Each cake is sold with a paper crown.
The cake is cut into pieces and each person takes a piece.
Hidden in the cake is a token or figurine called "la fève." The person who finds it in his piece becomes the king or queen for the day and has to wear the dopey paper crown. I went to Dalloyau to get the galette specifically because I work with a bunch of fancypants people who probably wouldn't have played along unless the cake was top notch. Even so, my colleague who found the coin refused to wear the crown! And he was French, believe it or not. There has to be some bad luck in that act.
Nevertheless, the cake itself was delicious. It was so flaky that it fell apart as I tried to eat my slice. The frangipane held it together. As you can see, Dalloyau is a fancy place. They sell a variety of desserts and sandwiches and even have an upstairs tea room that I'll get around to trying one of these days. I can tell you this - it ain't cheap. It is more expensive than most of the patisseries I've been to in Paris.
I guess that doesn't suprise me. They seem to be shooting for the high end of the market.
5, Blvd Beaumarchais (and many other locations)
4th Arondissement
Paris
Sure looks flaky... why only on one day of the year? Why?
ReplyDeletei think because it's the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Epiphany, christian feast day, it celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ, maybe hence the crown..
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