January 6 in France…
While the world was swooning over this year's Panetone epidemic, I was secretly looking forward to our own local brioche as an approach to a festive gateau here in Gascony—a soft pillowy galette de roi, the kind that we make here in Southwest France. This sugar-encrusted crown with a porcelain fève tucked inside starts appearing just as the last buche de noel is eaten and will often be stocked in boulangeries and patisseries throughout January and even into February.
Like the sweet vs. salted butter wars, the bread crumbs vs. none on cassoulet, and pain au chocolate vs. chocolatines, there is always a willing crowd ready to line up and take sides. And now we can add Galette des Rois to the French food wars. The countryfolk here in the Southwest call the frangipane-filled puff pastries—Galettes Parisienne. Here, a rich crown of brioche topped with coarse sugar pearls is de rigueur, easy to eat with coffee at any time of the day. In fairness, if you look farther afield beyond France, you’ll find Epiphany cakes for the Christian traditions of the feast of the three kings from Rosca de Reyes in Spain and Mexico to Kings Cakes (for Mardi Gras) in New Orleans; twelfth-night cakes in England, Switzerland, and Poland compete for elegance and sweetness. There is even a new local patisserie here offering a new Brioche Couronne—a brioche and puff pastry hybrid offering the best of both worlds.
So while the world's foodies battle each other with dissent, may I turn your attention to the one and only real reason to make or buy any Galette de Rois- la fève. This little charm in France, once a real fava bean, or sometimes a coin, is a little porcelain character popped into the cake before baking. When found in one lucky portion, the recipient becomes the King or Queen of the evening. Most galettes from boulangeries and patisseries come with a paper crown like above, and local tradition has it that the newly crowned king must buy the next galette and serve it with cider, champagne, or beverage of choice. So for those looking for a galette de roi recipe I can heartily recommend this lovely old recipe for a Galette Briochée that I made and wrote about last year (and featured above). And yes, Dorothy, you do start it in a cold oven!
Recipe for an Gateaux des Rois
Fève Disclosure- I have a hundred or more vintage feves for sale. And while it might be too late for this year’s cake, you can plan ahead once I re-open my late sister’s Etsy shop Maiden France Vintage. See here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaidenFranceVintage
Soups On! Hot Food!
So while you are wrapping up the winter holidays with a celebration of kings, I had my own epiphany about the winter foods I love best. Hot, spicy, sharp, savory, and piquant are the first essentials for quick sauces and soups. The January issue of A Gascon Year (included for all paying subscribers here as a PDF—below the paywall) has two great soups I make on repeat winter to winter- a Lean Leek Soup for those days when over-indulging has been too much, and a bright and duck fat-enriched Garbure direct from the Basque country with smoking piment d’Espelette and a shard of deep flavored dry-cured jambon. So while the recipes are pretty basic, it’s the approach to eating that is so French. I’ll be sharing some of my favorites this month, and paid subscribers can access all the recipes conveniently gathered in the pdf ebook for A Gascon Year- Janvier book included below the Paywall. Not a paying subscriber? Well, you can buy the first book here on it’s own or subscribe for the month for the same price.
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