French FridaysMy (almost) French Life

Galette des Rois in NYC, celebrating Three Kings the French Way

French Fridays is back in 2016! As a reminder, I do French Fridays to share something about French language and culture. It’s a way for me to share and to keep up with part of our family heritage. This week I wanted to share a tradition that you can celebrate in NYC as well! Eating the galette des rois in NYC!

In France, The Epiphany, or the Three Kings’ Day, is celebrated by eating a pastry called a galette des rois which is a round pastry puff dough filled with an almond paste called frangipane. There is another type called gâteau des rois which is eaten in the South of France. The gâteau des rois is similar to the Rosca de Reyes eaten in Spain and Latin America: a sweet bread in the shape of a crown (round with a whole in the middle) with dried fruit and sugar on top.

galette des rois

The fun part about getting a galette des rois is the tradition: each galette des rois comes with a small porcelain charm called a fève is hidden inside the cake. The word fève  is the word for bean. When the tradition originated (in the Middle Ages) a bean was inside the cake, not a porcelain or plastic doll. When you buy the galette, it comes with a crown which will be given to the person that finds the fève. My husband told me that the tradition in France says that the youngest child goes underneath the table, and someone cuts the cake. The child chooses who gets each piece of cake. The person that finds the fève gets the crown and is crown king or queen for the day. The galette can be enjoyed with as a gouter (afternoon snake) with different drinks like tea, coffee, and my personal favorite champagne! (as seen above!)

Enzo with crown

Even though Three Kings’ Day is in early January, you can eat it all through out the month of January!

Here are some bakeries where you can find the galette des rois in NYC:

In Queens (Jackson Heights)

Cannelle Bakery  (http://cannellepatisserie.com/)

75-59 31st Ave, Jackson Heights
East Elmhurst vicinity within Waldbaum’s mall off 77th St & 31St Ave
Queens, NY 11370
(Abundant Free Parking)

 

In Manhattan:

552 LaGuardia Pl
(212) 533-4698
2175 Broadway
(212) 362-6261
Patisserie Claude
Address: 187 West 4th Street

 

Financier Patisserie 

Various locations in NYC, check them out here: https://financierpatisserie.com/locations 

 

 

Let’s chat! Do you celebrate L’Ephiphanie? Three Kings’ Day? How?

 

Diana Limongi
Diana a mom, activist, nonprofit professional, podcaster and writer from Queens, NY. She writes about motherhood, activism, raising my multilingual kids, culture and travel. She and her multicultural family live in Queens, NY.

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