Maybe we should be able to eat king cake before Jan. 6.
Vinyl record scratches to a halt. Cat screeches. Baby cries. Window breaks. Ice cream scoop falls off the cone, thuds to the ground.
No, no, no, don’t stop reading yet! I promise we’ll have fun, or at least engage in a fun debate.
Let me dismiss a few of the worst things you might think of me before we get started on this most heated of topics. First, I am not saying you should be able to eat king cake 365 days a year. Second, I like traditions and do not want to destroy them. Third, while I am originally from New York (*baby cries again*), I have lived here for 15 years and I love it. I don’t want to make New Orleans more like New York.
I was once happy, just like you. For years I would start eating king cake on Jan. 6 and wouldn’t stop until Mardi Gras. In fact, I once ate 88 different king cakes during a single Carnival! If I saw someone with a slice of king cake in their hand on Jan. 5, I would direct obscenities their way. If I saw them chomping on a leftover piece on Ash Wednesday, I would slap it out of their dirty little mouth.
But then I wrote two books about king cake, and it ruined my life because I learned an inconvenient truth.
Now I have to share that truth with you.
The Roman argument
But let’s take our time.
The king cake tradition began 4,000 years ago in ancient Rome. The cake was eaten during Rome’s biggest festival of the year: Saturnalia. During this weeklong celebration, partygoers ate too much, drank too much and dressed up in colorful costumes. Sounds a little like New Orleans’ biggest celebration of the year, right?
Even the tradition of their cake is similar to ours. Hidden inside was a fava bean. Whoever received the slice of cake with the bean was crowned queen or king of the Saturnalia and was treated like royalty. (Except, in the earliest years of Rome, once Saturnalia was complete, the faux royalty was sacrificed to the gods. So, buying the next king cake isn’t so bad.)
But when was Saturnalia celebrated? Around the same time we celebrate Mardi Gras?
Nope! The Saturnalia was a festival celebrating the winter solstice. In the northern hemisphere, that’s Dec. 21, the longest night of the year. This means every day after, will see the sun rise a little higher in the sky and the day last a little longer. The darkest days were past, and spring, with all its warmth and bounty, was coming.
Of course, that means the Roman predecessor to king cake was also eaten around the winter solstice — in December — rather than during Carnival season, which, unfortunately for the Romans, didn’t exist yet.
Other countries, other customs
To this day, versions of king cake exist all over Europe and the Americas. As Rome expanded into the Roman Empire, Romans brought their traditions with them. From the island of Britain in the west, to Greece and Cyprus in the east, families adopted the custom of hiding something that signified good fortune inside their winter cake. Whoever found that something was crowned faux royalty.
King cake from local baker Nolita follows the classic form and adds a bit of citrus to brighten the flavors. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
As Christianity swept across the continent, that Saturnalia cake became “kings cake” — named after the Three Kings who were believed to have presented their gifts to the baby Jesus on Jan. 6.
The Spanish still eat roscón de reyes and the French enjoy galette des rois and gâteau des rois. Germans and Swiss eat Dreikönigskuchen, while the Portuguese celebrate with Bolo-Rei. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Purple, green, and gold sugar on a counter at Joe Gambino's Bakery in Metairie on Thursday, January 6, 2022. (Photo by Chris Granger | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Each of these cakes look different and have distinct-sounding names, but the similarities far outweigh the differences. Each of those names, for example, translate to “cake of kings” or “king cake.” And while New Orleans has adopted the purple, green and gold of Rex to color sugar, most other countries top their cakes with colorful fruit and nuts, likely to emulate the kings’ jewel-studded crowns.
To the Romans, this was a solstice cake. To Catholics — early Louisianans included — this is a Christmas cake.
Creole king cake
In fact, the first Creole New Orleanians in the 18th century would have only eaten a king cake on Jan. 6, the 12th night of Christmas.
But then, in the late 19th century, mostly-Anglo New Orleanians came up with the pretty damn good idea of requiring whoever found the pecan, bean or baby in their king cake to host a party the next week with more king cake. The same thing would happen the next week. And the week after. Suddenly, our Christmas king cake was elbowing itself into Carnival season.
King cake from local baker Nolita follows the classic form and adds a bit of citrus to brighten the flavors. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
In other words, we’ve already bastardized the tradition we’re trying to preserve. We’ve already taken this delicious, exclusive custom, eaten on just a single day each year, and expanded it into a period as long as two months.
But don’t worry. We’re not the only ones. The Portuguese begin eating king cake in November. The French eat theirs during most of January. In Mexico, whoever finds the baby in their version of king cake has to host a tamale party on Groundhog Day. (That one’s a long story!).
Again, this isn’t to say we should keep stretching our traditions until we’re eating king cake from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve. (My cholesterol hurts just thinking about it.) It’s simply to say that traditions aren’t as set in stone as we think. Rather, they’re always evolving. Debating them can be fun!
After all, if a local baker wants to earn a little extra money by making a candy cane-shaped king cake on Dec. 15 or a turkey-shaped cake on Nov. 26, are they any crazier than the rest of us eating a purple, green and gold king cake on Mardi Gras?
*Baby cries again*
Matt Haines is author of "The Big Book of King Cake."
Read Again https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiowFodHRwczovL3d3dy5ub2xhLmNvbS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50X2xpZmUvZWF0LWRyaW5rL3doZW4tY2FuLXdlLWVhdC1raW5nLWNha2UtdGhlLWFuc3dlci1pc250LWFzLXNpbXBsZS1hcy13ZS10aGluay9hcnRpY2xlXzQ1MTdjOTJhLTg2M2EtMTFlZC1iYjYyLWRmZDVlNjA0MzEwNi5odG1s0gGnAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5vbGEuY29tL2VudGVydGFpbm1lbnRfbGlmZS9lYXQtZHJpbmsvd2hlbi1jYW4td2UtZWF0LWtpbmctY2FrZS10aGUtYW5zd2VyLWlzbnQtYXMtc2ltcGxlLWFzLXdlLXRoaW5rL2FydGljbGVfNDUxN2M5MmEtODYzYS0xMWVkLWJiNjItZGZkNWU2MDQzMTA2LmFtcC5odG1s?oc=5
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "When can we eat king cake? The answer isn't as simple as we think. - NOLA.com"
Post a Comment