With so many festivals and traditions that were not celebrated in Italy years ago but we have imported from America (Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Black Friday) who knows if a French tradition does not take root in us for once? He tries in Rome for the Epiphany Le Carré Français, the embassy of transalpine taste in Rome, which proposes “La Galette des Rois” (the Cake of the Kings), celebrated in France on January 6 and now also in Rome. The recipe for the dessert to feel “King for a day” available in the Boulangerie corner of the sign in Via Vittoria Colonna, is a base of puff pastry, frangipane cream (made with almond flour) – where the “fève” is placed inside “, That is a bean, covered with another layer of puff pastry. Golden in the oven, the cake is then glazed, and decorative carvings can be made on top.
The cake is delivered with a (cardboard) crown for the King and Queen who, eating their own slice of cake, will find the bean that hides inside and that takes on different appearances every year, like a mini ceramic macaron. or a mushroom, for a convivial moment to share at the table during the holidays, especially if you are in the company of children.
Jildaz Mahé, owner of Le Carré Français explains: «By browsing the French sites, you will find that many for the Epiphany will propose the most unusual beans to be used in the Galette des Rois. Like the French haute couture maisons, who make their “limited editions”, even in gold. But it usually takes the forms of a myriad of ceramic objects. There is a competition of the best Galette des Rois in Paris. Whoever wins, manages to sell up to 700% more than the year before (not a little considering that it costs 20 euros per piece). 1200 bakeries in Paris participate. We have ours here, usually we sell a thousand in the first week of January. Also this year there will be a new stone, so children can increase their collection ».
The one among the diners who finds the hidden bean, while eating his own slice, becomes the king or queen of the party, complete with a chaplet to wear, and is greeted by the others with a toast, shouting: “Le roi boit, le roi boit, le roi boit! “. The origins of the ritual are uncertain, but today it is one of the most important popular traditions in France: the boulangeries sell the Galette des Rois together with a crown of gilded cardboard, just as happens in Le Carré Français.