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One Year, I Nearly Chomped Into A Wiseman’s Head
French customs and celebrations can be tricky for the unsuspecting
I made a few cultural faux pas when I first moved to France. One was purchasing two pots of vibrant yellow chrysanthemums and placing them on either side of my front door on a gloomy winter day. I thought they would add a little cheer. Silly me. I knew nothing about La Toussaint, the annual French holiday of remembrance on the 1st of November when cemeteries are vibrant with potted mums, placed there to remember the departed.
Similarly, when I bit into a slice of a delicious marzipan-filled pastry, I was surprised when my teeth encountered resistance. Perhaps if I’d eaten a King cake in New Orleans or knew about the French Galette des Rois, I’d have known about the fève, the small trinket baked inside.
Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, commemorates the visit of the three wise men to Bethlehem. It’s observed in various ways throughout the world, mostly by eating special cakes. In Louisiana, it’s King Cakes, in Spain there’s a brioche-like concoction known as Roscón de Reyes. Portugal, I read, has a crown-shaped cake filled with dried fruit…