A cake fit for a king: Exploring France’s ‘galette des rois’ tradition

Issued on: 05/01/2024 – 18:18

10:32

It’s a pastry that’s synonymous with the month of January in France. At the start of every year the “galette des rois”, or king cake, fills bakeries across the country and there’s one to suit everyone’s taste. In this show, we find out more about the origins of this French culinary tradition which, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t date back to the Three Kings but to the Saturnalia feasts in ancient Rome. We also take you to the bakery that won this year’s title for best galette in the greater Paris area. Yasmine Menacer, its head pastry chef, gives us some of her baking tips.