After the ball

Tags

6 january, Canada, Epiphany, France, Gateau, Magi

So here we are the end of the Holiday Season with la Fête des Rois or Epiphany , now is the time to undo the Xmas decorations and fall into a kind of slumber which is January and February, the dull period of the year. The weather on the Island is uncertain, not cold not warm and a lot of overcast skies. Typical Northen European weather though we are in Atlantic Canada.

Tomorrow being la Fêtes des Rois the tradition in French culture is to have a special cake. The cake is to celebrate the visit of the 3 wise men to the manger to see baby Jesus, before his parents took him on a tax dodge to Egypt. I remember my mother making this cake or galette as it is called in French, an put a broad bean inside for one lucky kid to discover.

Celebrating the Epiphany with a gâteau des rois is a custom that originates from a Roman pagan ritual, which came to French Canada via France. The Romans would bake a cake, inside of which they would place a bean or a clay fish. Whoever discovered the object — regardless of his or her social status — would play king or queen for a day.

Recipe for the Gateau des Rois.

Ingredients

	parchment paper, for the baking sheet
400 g	puff pastry dough		1 box
1/2 cup	butter, unsalted, soft		120 g
1 cup	icing/confectioners’ sugar		130 g
1 1/3 cup	almond meal		130 g
3	eggs size large
1 tbsp	rum		15 mL
	white flour (all purpose), to roll out the pastry

Before you start

Defrost the puff pastry dough at room temperature for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. The dough should be flexible but still feel cold to the touch.

A hand-held or stand mixer will make things easier for this recipe.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 205°C/400°F. Butter a large baking sheet (about 30 x 38 cm) and line with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, cream the butter with the sugar using a mixer, until light and fluffy. Fold in the almond meal, 2 eggs and rum. Set aside. 
3. On a lightly floured board, roll out the puff pastry to 2 rounds of about 10 in (25 cm) diameter, using a rolling pin. Place one round on the baking sheet.
4. Transfer the almond mixture to the center of the round, leaving about 1 in (2,5 cm) on the edge. Drop one broad bean near the edge (to minimize the chances to find it when slicing the cake).Whisk the remaining egg with 1 tbsp water then brush the pastry edge. Cover with the second pastry round.
5. Seal all around the edge, gently pressing with a fork. Drill tiny holes in the upper crust, to allow steam to escape. Brush the crust with the beaten egg.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven 20-25 min, until golden.
7. Serve at room temperature.

A slice of galette des rois at Duc de Lorraine contains top-quality baker’s flour and butter. About 600 cakes were sold last year between Christmas and the end of January.

La Fête des Rois Mages

Tags

BULGARI, Christmas, cookies, Epiphany, gifts, sunshine, the 3 kings

Well today is the 6 January, the last day of the Christmas festivities. Again at dinner time we were listening to Radio Canada from Montreal and Monique Giroux the host of the music show had a special 1969 French Song of that year. It was a great year for French songs in Canada and in France, many hits for sure and some duds. I was 12 years old in 1969 and the Host Monique Giroux was 6 years old. It was so strange to hear all these old songs, many made me smile remembering Montreal then, we lived in Snowdon and the big street was Queen Mary Road name after the wife of King George V.

My father was the manager of the Bonaventure Hotel which was operated then be Western International, the hotel part of United Airlines, my Mom was in real estate in Westmount, then a really expensive stone mansion was $50,000. For some unexplained reason this Holiday Season I have been thinking a lot about my parents and my childhood years in Montreal. Our Prime Minister then was Pierre E. Trudeau, the father of our current PM Justin, who was not even born. It was also the year before the October Crisis which would see Martial Law impose for 6 months with the army occupying the streets. Being in Quebec, despite our young age I remember how aware we were of the political events.

This beautiful mosaic in the cathedral of San Vitale in Ravenna of the 3 kings dressed in the Gaul style with pants and the red phrygian caps bearing gifts to Jesus. 

This being the Feast of Epiphany, La Befana brought me a gift. In Italy she is the old lady who gives gifts to children on this day, there is NO Santa in the Italian tradition. BULGARI  is my favourite.

 

Will also made Peanut Butter cookies, they are very good but not the 22 dozens the recipe called for.

Home at 04:10 pm with the sun setting in the West.

Epiphany 6 January

Tags

Epiphany, gifts, Italy, La Befana, women

6th January 2017,

Throughout Italy the 6th of January is traditionally a gift giving holiday though in the rest of the world it is a bit of a quiet day. Decorations come down (or bad luck will fall), leaving rooms looking a bit sparse and bare. It’s back to work and for kids, it’s countless weeks of school until Easter. But in Italy, Epiphany is a cause for celebration and is celebrated all over the country. It’s a day that marks the 12th day of Christmas when Jesus received his gifts from the Three Wise Men. One of the most commonly known aspects of Epiphany is the old woman, La Befana, who comes bearing gifts of good for the well behaved kids and lumps of coal for the not so well behaved youngsters (although, to sweeten the mood, the coal tends to be a lump of coal-shaped candy), there is no Santa Claus in Italian tradition. Many areas put on special celebrations for the legend of the old woman who encountered the Wise Men on their route to the manger. She too wanted to offer a gift for the Christ Child and this is how she became in folkloric legend the one who bears gifts to children on Epiphany. Christmas Day remains a religious holiday, though a minor one in Roman Catholic tradition compared to Easter which is the most important religious holiday on the calendar.

A conventional take on the La Befana celebration is in Urbania, which really goes to town with a four-day spectacular during which kids can meet the lady herself in La Casa della Befana. Another familiar element of Epiphany is the Nativity, and a good number of regions act out the scene, following the living nativities of the Christmas period. One of the best known of the nativities is the one in Rivisondoli, which relives the moment in which the Wise Men arrived – and it does so on a large scale with lots of extras in costume and a genuine atmosphere.

Galette des Rois

Tags

Epiphany, Galette des Rois, Italy, Ostrogoths, Ravenna, Theodoric

The Holiday Season is not quite finish, there is still one Feast left on 6 January, Epiphany. We had Holy Innocents on 28 December and the Feast of the Circumcision on 1 January.

Feast of the Holy Innocents 

Feast of the Circumcision by Bellini

Epiphany

I especially love this great mosaic from the Church of St-Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna, a must see City in Italy. I saw it in 2010 and you will notice that the Three Kings come to the Manger from the West and not the East. They are also dress like Ostrogoths Chieftains and not some kind of Oriental Potentate.  Ravenna was their Capital around 450 AD and Theodoric is buried there. Wearing pants like the Celts and Red Phrygian hats. This is how the invading hordes of barbarians crashed into the Biblical story and it was something the Roman Church welcomed since by putting them into the narrative they would be sure to convert to the true Faith, which they did.

One great tradition of Epiphany is the Galette des Rois or Kings cake.

My Mom always made one for that day and inside a coin would be hidden.

Ingredients

1/4 cup almond paste

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 dry kidney bean

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Directions

Place the almond paste into a food processor or blender with about half of the sugar, and process until well blended. Add the butter and remaining sugar using and process until smooth, then blend in 1 egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, flour and salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Butter a baking sheet or line with parchment paper, and set aside.

Roll out one sheet of the puff pastry into an 11-inch square. Keep the pastry cool, do not knead or stretch. Use a large pie plate, cake pan or frying pan to trace an 11 inch circle onto the dough using the tip of a small knife. Place the circle of pastry onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry. Refrigerate both sheets.

Mound the almond filling onto the center of the pastry that is on the baking sheet. Leave about 1 1/2 inch margin at the edges. Press the bean or fève down into the filling. Place the second sheet of pastry on top, and press down the edges to seal. Beat the remaining egg with a fork, and lightly brush onto the top of the galette. Use a knife to make a crisscross pattern in the egg wash, and then prick several small slits in the top to vent steam while baking.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Do not open the oven until the time is up, as the pastry will not fully puff. Remove from the oven, and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Return to the oven, and cook for an additional 12 to 15 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.