Galette des Rois

Description

A bit of History: From the XIIIe The Galette des Rois is shared on the Epiphany day (meaning Occurrence in Greek), the 6th of January at which a King or Queen was chosen for one day, by means of a white or black bean hidden in the cake.
It celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child.

In the past, the pastry would be cut as many portions as there were guests, plus one extra. The last one, called the “part du pauvre” or “poor man’s slice”, was for the first poor person who stopped by the house.

Nowadays in France, there’s an age-old protocol that needs to be followed and it’s all to do with the little charm that is hidden inside the cake.
First of all, the youngest child has to hide under the table and tell whoever is cutting the cake who should get which piece.
The person who gets the Fève gets the crown and is also expected to bring the next cake for these get-togethers through January.

Although la fève used to be a broad bean, it was replaced in around 1870 by a variety of figurines made out of porcelain or – more recently – plastic.
These plastic figurines used to be in the shape of babies to represent Jesus but can now be anything from a car to a shoe.
Real Galette des Rois fanatics will collect the charms year after year and build up a fine array of little trinkets. One man named Bernard Joly has over 1,200 according to France TV info.