Galette des Rois and Muscat de St-Jean-de-Minervois

As the kids were off home straight after the New Year we jumped the gun by a few days with the last of the seasonal treats, a celebratory galette des rois. Traditionally eaten in France on the 6th of January (Twelfth Night) it celebrates the arrival of the three kings to visit the infant Jesus.

Recipes differ but in our part of the world the galette is a puff pastry pie filled with frangipane, a soft almond filling and always conceals a surprise gift. Traditionally this was a bean, a symbol of fertility, but now can take any shape (ours was a bee!) Whoever finds the gift in their slice becomes king or queen for the day and is entitled to wear the golden paper crown which decorates the outside of the cake.

To drink I picked a bottle of Muscat de St-Jean-de-Minervois not because it’s the perfect match (though it’s a perfectly good one) but because it’s a local one and my new year’s resolution is to buy local whenever possible*. Pastry and almonds is a forgiving combination so almost any other light dessert wine would be good too. Or for a final post-Christmas treat, a glass of demi-sec Champagne.* See the reason for the resolution here.

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