photo © myfrenchcountryhome.com
While in the U.S. the holiday season has been over and forgotten about for nearly a week now, things are still going strong here in France. This week, on January 6th, France will celebrate the Epiphany, the day the 3 Kings arrived to see the baby Jesus. Here in France, the Epiphany is celebrated with a Galette des Rois- a special “kings cake” made of layers of puff pastry and filled with chocolate and pear, apple, or the more traditional frangipane (an almond-flavored paste). Although pretty yummy by itself, the highlight of the Galette des Rois is finding the fève. The fève is a small, ceramic figurine which is baked inside the cake. Typically, the cake is sliced, and the youngest child in the household gets to determine who gets which slice. Whoever finds the fève in their slice of cake gets to wear a paper crown and be King (or Queen) for the day. I can imagine that in the U.S. 
a hard, pointy figurine baked into a cake would be considered a safety risk, but that’s not at all the case in France, where you’ll see lines of galette-hungry customers snaking out of bakeries across the country.
If you want to take part in the festivities, why not try this simple Galette des Rois recipe at home? A quick search on ebay pulls up a small (and pricey) selection of French fèves, but you can also do like they do in New Orleans and bake a small plastic baby in your “King Cake” instead. You can find the mini babies at any store that sells baby shower decorations. Vive le roi et vive la reine!
- © parisian party, january 2010
It still amazes me how you can be in the absolute thick of vibrant, bustling Paris one moment, and then less than 30 minutes later you can find yourself in the heart of the sleepiest, most picture-postcard French countryside. This really comes in handy when I’m working with wedding clients like Dana and Arnaud- who were both a little bit country/ a little bit rock-n-roll. The natural solution for them was to have their wedding ceremony in a church just a stones-throw away from the Eiffel Tower, and then move the whole party out of town- to a quaint little village just 20 minute south of the Paris péripherique.
We carried this City-meets-Country vibe throughout the entire evening, contrasting the vibrant tastes and colors that you’d expect to find in a fashionable bistro on the Faubourg St. Honoré (the dinner menu was designed by the bride, who happens to be a food blogger) with the champêtre ambiance of a country manor. Friends and family representing over 12 different countries flew into town to share the day with these guys- something that definitely gave their quadrilingual Toastmaster a run for his money. Glückwünsche! Congratulazioni! onnea! Tillykke! Félicitations to you both!
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux, cake by sugarplum cake shop
photos © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
You’re at your very first French wedding reception and you can’t believe that even though you sat down to eat well over two hours ago, they’re still bringing out food - with not even a hint of an end in sight. Before you even made it to the table, you stuffed yourself full of amuse-bouche: Torsadées Feuilletées au Jambon, Tartinade de chèvre au basilic et à l’ail, and some little round meat-things that tasted like cheese. Once comfortably seated à table, you gorged yourself on slabs of Foie gras de Canard aux figues & son chutney de poire et mangue, then Trois crusacés pour une Ecume & Son Coulis Pourpre followed by an amazing Magret de canette grillé sauce périgourdine.
After the plates are cleared, you scan the room for the happy couple, certain that its finally time to crack the croquembouche. Instead, a waiter appears in front of you and sets down a dainty little glass of what looks like a scoop of ice cream, but smells like fruity alcohol (??). Ah, the famous “hidden” French dinner course: Le Trou Normand.
Le Trou Normand, The Normand Hole, is a strong alcohol served with a small scoop of sorbet that’s served during French weddings and large dinners. The idea is to clean the palate and stimulate the appetite- to give you a feeling of emptiness so that you can go back and tuck more in. The tradition, which started in Normandy, goes back several centuries. Originally, it was just a small glass of apple brandy (Calvados) served midway between a big meal. These days , any number of alcohols and flavors of sorbet can be served, depending on the region of France that you’re in or the course that is about to be served: Vodka and lemon sorbet go nicely with fish or seafood , whereas traditional Calvados and apple sorbet are perfect for foie gras.
To make your own Trou Normand, place one or two small scoops of high-quality sorbet (if you can’t find apple sorbet in the store, try making your own- feel free to substitute apple with lemon or lime) into a pretty martini glass or champagne coupe, then slowly pour the Calvados over it, top it off with a sprig of mint or lemon zest, et voila! A simple recipe that can easily be incorporated into any French or Paris-themed wedding celebration.
