Galette des Rois

[artisanbaker]

thanks for the posts everyone. epiphany is a great reason to party in France.

i make a brioche with orange flower water here in TN for mardi gras. it competes with the "kings cake" from new orleans which is hideous. apart from that i make pithiviers on occasion, but there is no epiphany celebration like in France stateside.

fyi the pineapple coconut seems to be very popular this year according to a french bakery messageboard...

>>>

tu suprimes 10% de sucre de ta recette de creme d'amande

et tu remplaces 75 % de poudre d'amande par de la noix de coco rapée

_________________

Patrick Hermenault

Vive la réussite par le TRAVAIL et avec le TRAVAIL

<<<

[curlywurlyfi]

apart from that i make pithiviers on occasion

Artisanbaker, your mention of pithiviers reminded me, Jane Grigson in her book Good Things talks about adding a roasted, minced pig's kidney to the almond filling of the pithiviers 'for a change'. Huh????? I have always wondered of the truth of this one (and once asked a French chef, who didn't quite scream out loud but did laugh a lot). have you heard of this? anyone else?

thanks!

Fi

[Bux]

Jellybean just posted a link to the Patiwizz web site in another thread. Patiwizz is a French pastry chef supply house. I noticed two links to santons on the home page currently featuring galettes des rois. These santons are be used as favors in a galette des rois. There are the sacred Santons Santibelli and the rather more profane, or secular, Santons Alice au Pays des Merveilles with Alice, the queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, etc. Pays des Merveilles literaly "land of marvels," is, of course, "Wonderland."

[Adam Balic]

apart from that i make pithiviers on occasion

Artisanbaker, your mention of pithiviers reminded me, Jane Grigson in her book Good Things talks about adding a roasted, minced pig's kidney to the almond filling of the pithiviers 'for a change'. Huh????? I have always wondered of the truth of this one (and once asked a French chef, who didn't quite scream out loud but did laugh a lot). have you heard of this? anyone else?

thanks!

Fi

Jane Grigson's recipe is taken from Careme, he lists a number of Pithiviers recipes, with the recipe she has in "Good Things" being the variant with the odd kidney addition. Not that I think that it is that odd, as mince pies commonly contained minced/ground meat as well as suet until the late 19th C., sometime much later, and I don't think that the kidney flavour would be that dominant.

A very nice original post BTW, what is also very nice is the hugh variation in the patterns of seen in individual Galette des Rois. What is confusing is that outside of Paris and Northern France is that Galette des Rois often means something that isn't of the Pithiviers model at all.

[Louisa Chu]

artisanbaker, the pineapple coconut's popular because that's what Pierre Herme does - and as he does, so do most French patissiers.

curlywurlyfi, you can do an all savoury pithiviers too. At Le Violon and Cafe Constant they have a wild game pithiviers right now.

Bux, those are like the feves they have at Maison Kayser this year - medieval fantasy figurines. Galettes - they have the traditional frangipane and an apple. Crowns - multi-colour jewel-tones on matte gold.

Adam, I didn't know that - other than the southern version - which you see all over Paris too - what other kinds of galettes are there?

I had the chocolate galette from Pierre Herme - as a treat from a very sweet and generous friend - warmed through in her oven - with vin chaud as our aperitifs - a giddy gouter. Flaky, buttery classic puff pastry - rich, dark bittersweet ganache filling - a deeply satisfying chocolate and patisserie experience. The feve - custom-made for PH by tse & tse - white porcelain pastilles - with PH logo and other abstract designs - modern but tactile. Crown - delicate, lacy, laser-cut tissue - wearing stars in your hair.

Passed Laduree's Madeleine window - saw a galette decorated with an almost transparent slice of candied orange. Will try to stop in today or tomorrow.

[Adam Balic]

Adam, I didn't know that - other than the southern version - which you see all over Paris too - what other kinds of galettes are there?

Mostly I have seen the Northern French/Belgium model which is the flaky pastry with an almond filling. There is some disgreement about this, the almond filling is either an almond cream or frangipane (maybe some pastry person could tell me what the difference is), but some people have insisted that it should be all pastry and no filling. With filling it becomes a Pithiviers, not a Galette des Rois. As mentioned before Careme, listed quite a few variations on the basic Pithiviers, including the pig kidney version. In Bordeux I have had an out of season Galette which had not filling but was layed pasty flavoured with much butter and brandy, I think that is would be similar to the 'original' form.

In the south they have the "Couronne" (crown) model which is more of a Brioche and this is the ancestor of the New Orlean's "King Cake".

In Spain they also have a "Rosca de Reyes" and this also exists in Mexico.

Edited January 20, 2004 by Adam Balic (log)

[Bux]

Louisa, medieval fantasy figurines just seem so much more ... French, than Lewis Carroll fantasy figurines. I'm still enough of a tourist to be disappointed to find my childhood stories hiding in a French pastry, though I suppose the English would be as disappointed to find Alice in America where they'd want cowboys and Mickely Mouse.

Adam, thanks for the historical correction to the drift of this thread. Mince meat is something I think many only read about. In fact, for most of my life, I think I thought of in the same vein as "Welsh Rabbit." I.e. not meat and not rabbit. Okay, rarebit doesn't even resemble a rabbit, but chopped fruits and nuts can resemble minced meat, although I don't think I've come across a really vegetarian mince meat. Those that don't contain minced meat, usually contain beef suet. I think this is all very much more British, and possibly more common in the other old British colonies than in America. It seems rather medieval to me. Other recipes for ground meat and fruit, mainly raisins, with which I am aware seem to come from Arab influence in Sicily and southern Italy and Spain, as well as it's old colonies. Empanadas stuffed with beef and raisins come to mind.

There is also, in Pezenas, a town in the Bas Languedoc north of Beziers, a local pastry called Pate Pezenas which is a small sweet pastry with a minced meat stuffing. The galette des rois commonly sold in Pezenas is the traditional one sold in Paris, a ring of puff pastry with almond filling.

[Louisa Chu]

Adam, frangipane is an almond cream. And Pithiviers is just a general term for a filled puff pastry - what people think of in France when you say Pithiviers is a puff pastry round, with a scalloped edge, scored sunburst design, filled with almond cream/frangipane. But as I'd said it can be a general term - like Violon/Cafe Constant's minced wild game pithiviers. And then a Galette des Rois is just usually smooth-edged - with the feve, crown, etc. It's kind of like saying cake - which is usually sweet, but can be something savoury - and then a birthday cake - for a certain occasion. And yeah, some places have the dry/unfilled galettes - like Lenotre. And most places in Paris have the southern brioche one too - I forgot to mention that Maison Kayser has that one too - which must be really good since that's more the domain of boulangers and M. Kayser is a boulangerie god.

Bux, I've seen the Mickey Mouse feves - not cool.

[Adam Balic]

Adam, thanks for the historical correction to the drift of this thread. Mince meat is something I think many only read about. In fact, for most of my life, I think I thought of in the same vein as "Welsh Rabbit." I.e. not meat and not rabbit. Okay, rarebit doesn't even resemble a rabbit, but chopped fruits and nuts can resemble minced meat, although I don't think I've come across a really vegetarian mince meat. Those that don't contain minced meat, usually contain beef suet. I think this is all very much more British, and possibly more common in the other old British colonies than in America. It seems rather medieval to me. Other recipes for ground meat and fruit, mainly raisins, with which I am aware seem to come from Arab influence in Sicily and southern Italy and Spain, as well as it's old colonies. Empanadas stuffed with beef and raisins come to mind.

There is also, in Pezenas, a town in the Bas Languedoc north of Beziers, a local pastry called Pate Pezenas which is a small sweet pastry with a minced meat stuffing. The galette des rois commonly sold in Pezenas is the traditional one sold in Paris, a ring of puff pastry with almond filling.

Bux - just to be clear, "Mince meat" as in the filling for Christmas tarts etc originally contained meat, not just suet. Most 19th C. recipes collections with a list of mince meat recipes, will have at least one variation with meat. The further you go back, the more the inclusion of meat becomes common. Originally, the plum pudding (or its ancestor plum porrige) also contained meat or meat broth as well as suet. It is, as you say, a Medieval thing and proberly an Muslim thing, possible Persian before that, maybe even Roman. However, several years ago there was an egullet post by somebody that had meat in their family mince meat recipe and were concered that they were in some way weird. It isn't a coincidence of words, it reflects the history of the dish.

Welsh rarebit I don't know, I suspect that it isn't Welsh though!

Maybe this could be split off into a seperate thread?

Lou - Yes I thought that frangipane = almond cream, but I have been told that fragipane is actually almond cream with the addition of a pandade (sp?). "Proper" Galette des Rois should only contain almond cream which is Almonds, butter, suage and eggs, no flour or milk.

I have seen plenty of savoury "Pithiviers", but they would seen to be a modern culinary term, rather then refering to the original pastries made in the town of Pithiviers, even if they did once make savoury versions?

[artisanbaker]

i don't there has been universal consensus on the definition of frangipane but i usually mix in up to 100% pastry cream. this makes it much more "moelleux," or moist.

i think there's some type of pithiviers with lark in it that is now illegal to retail or something like that!

[Louisa Chu]

Adam - this is where my painfully traditional Cordon Bleu Paris education comes in handy - it's like a convent school for cooks. Frangipane is an almond cream - made with almond paste/pate d'amande/marzipan - rather than ground almonds - and does not need panada. Almond cream/creme d'amande - butter, sugar, ground almonds, egg, and rum - is THE traditional filling for pithiviers and galettes des rois. Panada - butter, flour, milk, yolks - blond roux, cold milk, cooked dry, then yolks - like choux pastry dough. When normal people - not Cordon Bleus - talk about frangipane, they can just mean almond cream.

artisanbaker, moelleux means more than just moist - it's a soft, luscious, mouth-feel kind of thing.

[Adam Balic]

Adam - this is where my painfully traditional Cordon Bleu Paris education comes in handy - it's like a convent school for cooks. Frangipane is an almond cream - made with almond paste/pate d'amande/marzipan - rather than ground almonds - and does not need panada. Almond cream/creme d'amande - butter, sugar, ground almonds, egg, and rum - is THE traditional filling for pithiviers and galettes des rois. Panada - butter, flour, milk, yolks - blond roux, cold milk, cooked dry, then yolks - like choux pastry dough. When normal people - not Cordon Bleus - talk about frangipane, they can just mean almond cream.

artisanbaker, moelleux means more than just moist - it's a soft, luscious, mouth-feel kind of thing.

Thanks very much for he clarification, I was getting confused by these issues in the various articles I had read on the subject. Now I know it is just a 'weird pastry people' thing.

If you were using ground almonds, not mazipan, you would get a different flavour, as almond mixtures rarely contain bitter almonds now? Or would you just and almond flavour?

[Louisa Chu]

Adam - weird pastry people - redundant. But that's coming from a cook - and if you ask them, we're savage psychos.

You can't just substitute ground almonds and marzipan - totally different recipes. And then there are the different types of marzipan/pate d'amande - depending on the sugar content, almond quality, etc. Maybe we should take this over to the pastry board if you want to get into this more.

[Adam Balic]

Maybe we should take this over to the pastry board if you want to get into this more.

I avoid the pastry board - people measure things over there!

[Bux]

artisanbaker, moelleux means more than just moist - it's a soft, luscious, mouth-feel kind of thing.

It's an interesting word for which I can't offer an exact English equivilent. I've heard that the Eskimos, with their vast experience, have many different words for the different forms of snow, whereas the French have one word to describe the essence of several different tastes. Moelleux, which I believe comes from moelle (marrow) can be used to describe a wine is sweet, a cheese that has a smooth ripe texture, etc. As Louisa says, "it's a soft, luscious, mouth-feel kind of thing."

[marlena spieler]

several years ago at epiphany i was visiting my late friend, lionel poilane. he gave me one of his galette des rois. before then i wasn't really fond of pastry, strange but true, i was more of the filling person. lionel said: i'm going to give you one of my galette des rois, and i got excited thinking about the almond filling, shame on me. and lionel said: its all about the pastry not the filling, so i'm giving you one that is not filled at all!

And that pastry was one of the best pastries ever, so buttery and crisp on the outside buttery and tender within. i immediately knew what the fuss of puff pastry, indeed any kind of pastry, was all about. it was an epiphany in many ways.

the galette des rois was fabulous. and of course, i'll always think of my dear friend whenever i pass by the poilane windows this time of year.

[Louisa Chu]

Adam - you can say it - pastry people are freaks - I won't tell.

Marlena - unfilled galettes des rois - spoken like a boulanger - I mean, what's the point? Give me that filling love.

[menton1]

Well, yesterday was the 6 janvier and no reports about any fetes du roi! After the fact, does anybody have any "Epiphany" stories, and some tales of great "Gallettes de Roi"? New York Times Story

[cigalechanta]

There's a piece in todays New York times on this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/internat...xT/3h1Ha/UaosLw

Edited January 7, 2005 by cigalechanta (log)

[Ptipois]

Adam - you can say it - pastry people are freaks - I won't tell.

Marlena - unfilled galettes des rois - spoken like a boulanger - I mean, what's the point? Give me that filling love.

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Galettes des Rois systematically filled with almond cream or frangipane are a rather recent item in France. Originally, unfilled was the rule (and it was delicious). Filled galettes started appearing sometime in the 70's and gradually took over. Some people, however, still insist on having them unfilled, and a few pâtissiers still sell those. I like galette with a good filling (I have fond memories of Jean-Luc Poujauran's crème d'amandes) but when the filling's oversweetened or too bitter or with a large proportion of crème pâtissière (urk!), I much prefer an unfilled galette. Munching on an aguignette from Rouen (a small buttery puff pastry in the shape of various animals with a currant eye, traditionally made there at New Year), when you're lucky enough to find one, is a perfect reminder of how wonderful a traditional galette can be.

It is probable that the pithiviers-type of galette (i.e. the filled galette) originally came from Belgium.

By the way, a pithiviers is, strictly speaking, a cake based on almond cream between two layers of puff pastry. If there are pithiviers de boudin or pithiviers of anything else, this should be understood as a manifestation of the recent fashion of naming some chefs' creations after a traditional dish with untraditional ingredients (like strawberry tiramisu, pithaya gaspacho or ostrich strogonoff). But a pithiviers is not really a puff pastry cake filled with you-name-it.

[bleudauvergne]

Galettes des Rois systematically filled with almond cream or frangipane are a rather recent item in France.

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I was discussing this with my boulanger the other day and he said the same thing. There is also another cake (no filling) that is quite popular among the galettes des rois purists which is more like a brioche, and is topped with candied fruit, yes? I wonder if this is an evolution of the aguignette, but round shaped, or something else.

Some bakeries put both a feve and a little santon in the galette - the person who gets the feve is the person who buys the next galette and the little santon gets to be king.

I love the filling - a colleague mentioned that she just could not take the rich fatty filling - so she replaces it with apple. To each her own...

[Ptipois]

I was discussing this with my boulanger the other day and he said the same thing.  There is also another cake (no filling) that is quite popular among the galettes des rois purists which is more like a brioche, and is topped with candied fruit, yes?  I wonder if this is an evolution of the aguignette, but round shaped, or something else.

The brioche version topped with candied fruit is more common in Southern France. In this case, it is called "gâteau des Rois". As for the aguignette, it is made of puff pastry, not brioche pastry. Made with light, excellent buttery Norman flaky pastry for which Rouen used to be famous for, it is a true delight. I wonder if they still make it. It is, most of the time, bird-shaped. Rather than being a regional pastry that evolved into something else, it may be considered a smaller version of the traditional puff pastry galette.

I love the filling - a colleague mentioned that she just could not take the rich fatty filling - so she replaces it with apple.  To each her own...

I think there are enough occasions to eat apple pastries all year round, why denaturate the galette concept with apples? Just a personal opinion. Why doesn't your friend try the unfilled galette ? Exit the fatty filling problem.

[bleudauvergne]

I toss the feves and santons in a box on the mantle every year - just fished them out. Here they are for anyone who's curious.

The little donkey, the cow, and the king were from our current boulanger (I love them best). The boats and I think the knight come from I think Bannette, it was a theme that year (we ate lots of galettes...) The mermaid is from Le Gribiche, a wonderful patissiere on Cours Lafayette in our old neighborhood. The "feves" are generally all the same - either a king or a queen. I don't remember where the rest came from.

I think there are enough occasions to eat apple pastries all year round, why denaturate the galette concept with apples? Just a personal opinion. Why doesn't your friend try the unfilled galette ? Exit the fatty filling problem.

I completely agree! I should tell her. I think she was just thinking of something to add to the conversation - The ladies were saying they wish they hadn't started filling them. Ptit pois, when did they start filling them? Do you know?

[cigalechanta]

I loved the cow!!

[menton1]

I've often wondered if anybody breaks a tooth on those feves!

I also got a kick out of the NY Times story telling that there wont be any feves in the Presidential Galette, because, after all, France is a Republic and there are no kings or queens! Actually, the French are rather scornful of their neighbors who cherish their Royals...