January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany, when the three wise men finally made it to visit the baby Jesus. In France, this of course means a special tradition involving food. The galette des rois is a round flat cake filled with almond pastry cream. Depending on your taste and following the decadence of Christmas this may seem a little underwhelming, but it's what's inside that counts. A small ceramic piece called a feve is baked into each cake. Traditionally in the shape of bean, the feve can also be in the form of the baby Jesus, a Smurf, a car, or almost anything else you can imagine (just search for "feves" at ebay.fr) take the The person who finds the feve in his or her slice is the king for the day and gets to wear the flimsy paper crown that comes with the cake. To ensure total impartiality in the distribution of slices, purists insist that the youngest person in the room sit under the table and call out names as the cake is cut. Galettes of all sizes are available throughout the city, from chains like Monoprix and Paul to almost every neighborhood patisserie. Don't pass up what may be your only chance at royalty this year.
Original source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/b5media/TheParisTraveler/~3/2Q8Ig4EvLEY/b5syndication+5082.aspx
