La Galette des Rois: a delicious french tradition

The end-of-year celebrations are over, another Christmas has passed, but food-lovers, not to fret! It is now time for the traditional Galette des Rois!

French tradition has it that on the day of Epiphany, traditionally on January 6th, we share a delicious Galette des Rois. Made of puff pastry, stuffed with a dense, creamy almond paste called frangipane, you may also sometimes find the Galette in other forms, such as a fruit brioche or an apple or chocolate cake. But the pleasure in all galettes is not simply its delicious taste, it comes with a hidden charm porcelain or plastic trinket (Fève in french) that the baker has buried within the layers.

There is an age-old protocol to serving and having the galette des rois. The galette should first be cut into as many slices as there are people present, plus one extra. This extra slice is called either, the ‘part du Bon Dieu’ (God’s slice), the ‘part de la Vierge’ (the Virgin Mary’s slice), or the ‘part du pauvre’ (poor man’s slice), in which case it would be offered to the first poor person who pops in !

The youngest guest then sits under the table and tells whoever is cutting the cake who should get which piece. Whoever finds the trinket (don’t swallow it!) is named the king or queen for the day!

This tradition dates back to the Roman times when festivals were organised in honour of the gods and masters and slaves ate together. It was an opportunity for everyone to be hailed king of the feast.

We invite you to celebrate with us the galette des rois: we’ve put together the places you can find one in Singapore, and a recipe too if you’re looking to flex your baking muscles!