A Royal Treat: King's Cake Comes With A
Surprise
January, every pastry shop in Paris devotes part of its window to a simple
puff pastry tart. Rows of tiny trinkets stand nearby: a set of shoes or fancy
hats or even cartoon characters. Buyers seem as interested in the trinkets as
in the tart. As a final touch to the scenario, there's a cardboard crown.
Raymond Ost, co-owner and chef of Sandrine's on Holyoke Street in
Cambridge, explains this longtime tradition. ``It's called `galette des rois'
-- kings' tart -- and we have it at Epiphany, the holiday that celebrates the
visit of the three kings to the baby Jesus.'' The tart has an almond filling
and tastes delicious, but most important is the serving ritual. ``Inside we
bury a little `feve.' The word means `bean,' because a bean used to be used.
Then it was a baby Jesus and today it's any little figure,'' Ost says,
displaying a handful of tiny Victorian ladies and gentlemen that will go
inside his galettes.
``The galette is brought to the table with the crown on top,'' he
continues. ``The one who gets the trinket becomes the king or queen and wears
the crown. To find that person, a kid, usually the youngest, hides under the
table. As the tart is cut, the child says who shall have each piece.''
In Spain, where the three kings replace Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts
to children, Epiphany is the most joyous time of the year, and the must-have
treat is ``roscon des reyes.'' The name means ``big doughnut of the kings,''
since the large cake, flavored with orange-flower water and decorated with
sugar and fruit, is shaped like a doughnut.
In this country, the tradition thrives in New Orleans, where King cake, a
cinnamon-flavored oval braid, appears around Jan. 6 and plays a starring role
at parties during Mardi Gras. The person who gets the favor, once a bean or
pecan and now the figure of a baby, has to provide the King cake for the next
party. Below are some recipes:
By Claire Hopley, Globe Correspondent
