Epiphany Cake of the Kings

After the rich celebrations of the Réveillon de Noël, Noël, Réveillon du Jour de l'an, and the Jour de l'an... we're ready for the delicious Galette des rois !

We celebrated with great French food, but it's not Christmas or New Year's day that make France's holidays stand out as culturally unique. Sure, there was plenty of foie gras, champagne, farce, raw oysters--which I love--but the rest of the holiday meals is nothing incredibly different from what we eat in the States. The Galette des rois, however, is a tradition that I am not aware of in the US.

Essentially, the Galette des rois is a crispy, frangipane-filled cake that is baked with a small figuring hidden inside. The "frangipane" is a delicious, sweetened almond filling. It's a unique flavor during the holiday season, and a tradition that is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, known as the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) in order to celebrate the biblical three kings. In honor of these kings, the person who discovers the figurine in his cake is crowned the "king" for the day. 

It's a fun, traditionally French holiday and the final one of the season. In Paris, most people will simply buy the cake from a local patisserie, but if you're not in Paris and you would still like to celebrate this holiday, please click this link for a recipe. 

Les Cadeaux de Noël

The Ritz

I wasn't the only non Francophone for Christmas this year. In years past, I spent traditional Christmas nights in Germany and in France, but this year I learned a bit about Italian culture while partaking in a traditional French Christmas ripe with froie gras and champagne.

In Germany, I discovered red sauerkraut, a delicious surprise that I find very little of in France. The family with which I dined on that Christmas day served a simple, satisfying meal. In France, there's the famous farce, froie gras, smoked salmon, perfectly cooked poultry, plenty of wine and champagne and, of course, an abundance of conversation (above all, politics, society and culture) and cheese.

Language had previously been a barrier. I speak French and know a lot more about French politics this year, so the entire evening's conversation was open to me. We talked political strategies, who will vote for whom, why and under what conditions... It was interesting, something I think we do very little of in the US.

When Adrian, the son of Anthénaume's mother's paramour brought his Italian girlfriend over to introduce the family, the spell was broken: we had to speak in English. She had lived in London for three years and thus had been forced to learn English; she spoke very little French.

I might have been disappointed, but we continued to speak French throughout most of the evening, as Anthénaume and Adrian were the only others who could speak English. Needless to say, there was a lot of confusion in between Adrian and his Girlfriend and even Anthénaume (I never said that they spoke English well) and among all of the strictly francophone guests, but we nevertheless managed to produce a beautiful exchange on Culture.

In Italy, I learned, each of the regions have kept their particular language and culture--especially the cities front Rome and southward, where men still treat women as inferior objects. Adrian's girlfriend explained a lot about the divisions between north and South, between Sardinia and the continent, etc. Having heard this, I am really glad we chose to book a flight to Rome in order to see the Italian capital. France has a strong, centralized culture that does not tolerate very many culture divisions between regions... and Germany simple seemed a bit too globalized. Italy will be more of a cultural experience that I had imagined!

We exchanged gifts (bottles of wine, books, chocolates and perfumes for the ladies), and ended the night at roughly 3 in the morning! A night of lively conversation, polite company and a lot of cheese and champagne--my Christmas 2011 in France was above all a pleasant experience.

Printemps Christmas Window Displays

It's December in Paris. Here is the Printemps idea of an 'all around the world with Chanel' theme.