La Galette du Coeur, La Galette des Chefs, St Germain des Près

 

Every January, I look forward to the annual Saturday morning pastry chef soirée. 

It’s always held outdoors at Saint Germain de pres. Usually quite chilly and yesterday rain was predicted. 

But that didn’t stop dedicated galette seekers from showing up.

Its a chance to get your paws on some of Paris' top pastry chef’s galette des rois/Epiphanie kings cakes, all funds donated to the charity OPIC. 

Every year there is a giant galette des rois made by major Paris catering company, Potel et Chabot . Take a look at their website. Wow!

This year’s big galette had a chocolate filling rather than the usual almond frangipane. Kids get it free and grownups pay 2€. The translucent crown 👑 was made of a sucre/sugar a kid told me…after I touched it and got sticky fingers 😮

The variety of fillings and decoration on the kings cakes is daunting. 

These were the biggest gold 👑 crowns I’ve seen yet. 

There is a limited number of cakes from each chef or hotel on offer so competition can get fierce. 

Some interesting ‘lewks’ at the gathering…most toute en bleu marine with a some exception. 

This year a fève/charm dealer showed up. The bear 🐻 was calling my name but I resisted 😬

Every year they serve up steaming bowls of traditional garbure soup, a warming, hearty soup/stew from the Pyrénées.

These two gents will tell you (in French) how to make it yourself. 

Of course during the week I was running around gathering galette research, mainly at Lafayette Gourmet, since so many pastry shops have stands (Yann Couvreur, Pierre Hermé, l’Eclair du Genie, CinqSens Paris, La Glacerie, Chez Meunier, Dalloyau, Marcolini, Alain Ducasse, Jean-Paul Hévin to name a few). 

As hinted previously January’s Paris map is on the Galette Des Rois. Tadum as the French say. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast! If you like this post please support it by buying my Paris letters and watercolors. Pass this on to someone you think might enjoy it. Happy Sunday and stay dry please Seattle readers🙏👑🫓