To our delight, she invited all of us to her studio last Sunday to celebrate Tirer les Rois (Find the Kings), a French tradition celebrating the Epiphany (arrival of the three wise men).
What a pleasure to view her art for the first time, see where she works, and meet her partner!
Find the Kings is celebrated every year on January 6, although the tradition is so popular that people gather throughout the entire month of January to share in the fun and especially to eat more of the special cake, called galette, that the holiday centers around.
The history of The Galette des Rois goes back to Roman times, and survived through the Middle Ages and even the French Revolution (when all things royal were suppressed).
There are three main styles of galette throughout France, but the celebration is always similar. Above all, a lucky charm is always hidden in the cake, which traditionally is a fava bean (la fève), but in recent times could be a porcelain or plastic trinket. At a gathering, the cake is sliced to the exact number of people at the table, plus one. The pieces are then distributed randomly (often by the youngest person in the room, who is considered the most innocent and fair) and the fun begins to see who will find la fève.
Whoever finds the lucky charm becomes king for the day and chooses a queen to join him. It is also customary for the king to then host the next gathering and provide the galette.
Et bien sûr, champgagne!
So yummy. Maybe next year I'll try my hand at homemade galette.
Doug found the lucky charm in his piece of galette, which means he became king for the day. And who better to become his queen than Mademoiselle Abigail . . .
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