During French Culture week , Y1 to Y6 discovered the traditional French galette des rois.For most of us, after New Year’s Eve it’s back to business as usual. In France, there’s still one more date on the festive calendar: “Épiphanie”, or Epiphany, which falls on January 6th. The Epiphany is a Christian holiday commemorating the arrival of the Magi, or three kings, to the birthplace of the Baby Jesus, which explains the other name for the holiday in French: “Fête Des Rois” – Feast of Kings. This also explains the name of the dessert that’s eaten on this day, the galette des rois, which translates to “kings’ cake”.
The French galette des rois is usually a large, round puff pastry that looks like a pie with a glazed top filled here with apples/compote or almond cream frangipane feeling. To add authenticity to the tradition, we would need to hide a small figurine, known as “la fève,” inside each galette. Each person is given a slice during the cutting of the cake, called the “tirage des rois” (the drawing of the kings), in the hopes of having the féve in their piece. Whoever has the féve wins! What do they win, exactly? Well, usually just a round of applause and you are crowned king or queen of the Fête Des Rois and get to wear a crown!
Year 5 pupils prepared a PowerPoint presentation and a quiz, sharing their learning with confidence. Year 6 pupils worked in groups, with one group reading and another singing alongside a small group of children from Years 1 to 4. This event was a wonderful opportunity to explore French culture together and to encourage our older pupils to take meaningful responsibility. The event concluded with everyone enjoying the galette des rois, made by our Chef Richard.
Our Kings and Queens of HCH this afternoon were Amelia and Florence, Elena R and Emma B, Angela and Naif, Jaehee and Morgane, Maya and Sol, Alexander and Eva-Lill, and Melissa and Mustafa!
