History of epiphany
It was a pagan celebration. Romans made this celebration up in the name of Saturnales, it lasted 7days. Soldiers drew lot, with a bean, a death row inmate. This one became a king and at the end of the Saturnales, he was executed. A young soldier was elected to be a king and could execute whoever he wanted. The master and a slave exchanged their role during this time.
The 4th century, Christians adopted this feast and began to honor the Magi, the second Sunday after Christmas. In 1875, they replaced the bean by a porcelain figurine in cakes.
Nowadays
In France, the famous galette des rois is eaten for this event. The Epiphany takes place the first Sunday of January. It exists a variety of galettes. But the most famous is the one made with puff pastry and filled with almond powder and inside there is the figurine that French people label la fève.The real tradition is that the youngest of the family sits under the table and tells which portion of the galette will be for someone. The person who finds the figurine, will have the crown, is the king or the queen and chooses her king or his queen.
The Epiphany day also marks the end of the greeting season. People takes Christmas decoration and Christmas tree off.
Different galette des rois
you could find a lot of varieties of these galettes, but the most bought are:
- brioches
- frangipane galettes
- apple galettes
I can't complete this article without speaking to you of the galette des rois from Franche-Comté, my native shire. It is a galette which was created in XIV th century. It is made with choux pastry (pâte à choux) and with a bit of orange blossom liquid. Obviously, you insert a figurine inside it.
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