This is one history of beyond the Alps, which speaks of King (the Magi) and a dessert dedicated to them that gives one lucky person the chance to become king for a day … if he finds a bean, a coin or a card in his slice.

The French have been celebrating for centuries epiphany (for them one working day) with the Galette des Rois continuing to enjoy it throughout January, so much so that every year they buy about 30 million pieces: for them the crown of kings has the strength of our panettone and has passed unscathed through centuries of history, perhaps starting from the ancient Romans who celebrated the god Saturn with a preparation that hid a bean. But it is only in the Middle Ages that the dessert takes on an associated religious connotation to the Epiphany in memory of the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem. It hasn't even scratched it French Revolution, which has maintained its tradition by changing its name to Gâteau del'Égalité and, in place of the bean symbolizing the king, the cap of the Jacobins in miniature. Its success has continued over time so as to induce the Parisian bakers, to early 1900s, to sell the cake together with a golden cardboard crown. By Galette des Rois there are various versions, with different shapes and toppings, but the most famous, ça va sans dire, is the Parisian: a puff pastry cake filled with frangipane cream complete with "Fève". And on this small object it is necessary to make an inscription: the success of the dessert has led over time to put inside small porcelain figures that have given life to a true collecting, the "Favophilie". The religious nature of the dessert had a ritual: the slices were as many as the guests, plus one said "Part du Bon Dieu" or "Part de la Vierge" in memory of the ancient custom according to which on the day of the Epiphany the poor could knock from house to house and eat their fill. To guarantee a fair distribution, the youngest of the family had to stand under the table and indicate the person to whom the slice was due. Whoever found the bean was crowned king and, at the cry of “le Roi boit”, had to take out a good glass of wine in one fell swoop. In short, French grandeur never ceases to amaze and, while in Italy our Epiphany is represented by a poorly dressed old woman carrying coal, in France the Galette des Rois has been the January dessert of the Elysée since 1975, since 1975 'then President Giscard d'Estaing re-established the custom. Not only that, every year in place Saint Germain des Pres the pastry chefs show off their galettes and the proceeds from the sale are
devoted to scientific research. But also our past has crossed, in a strip of Italy, with the French dessert: a Gâteau des Rois was many years ago a "traditionell" dessert from the Aosta Valley, so much so that in 1855 it was proposed to the Aostans to buy it and donate it to the poor, but since 1904 it disappeared from bakeries: trade union issues among workers, who did not keep up with the pace of production and threatened a strike against a "habitude qui est déjà partout abolie", and employers who, to avoid problems, they decided to suspend production despite the protests of the population. Italian stories and traditions from beyond the Alps.

Editor's editorial

Laura Maragliano

Portrait of GianMarco Falcolini, photo of the plate by Francesca Moscheni, in the kitchen Claudia CCompanions