We are back after our holiday break, and a long hiatus from blogging! We've been busy preparing for the upcoming new term and hope you'll be joining us in our parent, baby & toddler French classes across South East London. The new term starts again from Tuesday, 9th January and we're looking forward to being back to our sessions after the holidays. Book your spot here!
The start of this new term will explore the themes of food. This also ties in to a special French food tradition, la galette des Rois! Our French classes in London for babies and toddlers use authentic, traditional French rhymes and songs which is a not only a great way to introduce and explore the French language, but also to learn about the culture and traditions.
La galette des Rois (King cake) is a special cake for the l’Épiphanie (the Epiphany) on 6th January, often celebrated on the first Sunday in January. This is a holiday following Christmas which marks the day that les Rois mages the three wise men visited Jesus.
Although there are regional varieties found throughout France, in most French bakeries in London you will usually find la galette des Rois is a round puff pastry filled with a sweet almond creme filling. The cake is cut and the youngest person goes under the table and decides who gets each bit. Hidden inside la galette is la fève (a bean). Back before the 19th century it was an actual dried bean put in the cake, however, now you will find that la fève is a small figurine. The person who finds la fève in their piece becomes le roi or la reine (the king or the queen) for the day! Often if you buy la galette it will also come with a paper crown.
Visit our printables page to find a template to print out and make your own couronne (crown) for le roi or la reine (the king or the queen)! You can download the template for free, then print out on paper or cardstock and cut it out and tape together to fit. Your child can decorate and colour in the crown, which is the perfect way to incorporate practicing colours as well. You will find that we have a free printable to help teach the colours in French, too, as well as the vocabulary for l’Épiphanie celebrations related to la galette de Rois.
La galette is a fun tradition to extend the celebrations a bit longer into January after the New Year and kids love it! You can make your own simple galette with this recipe which is easy enough to do with toddlers. Cooking together is a fantastic opportunity to practice French vocabulary in a real-life, practical context.
If you prefer to skip the baking but still have the fun, you can purchase your galette des Rois at most French bakeries in London. South East London French favourite Comptoir Gourmand has them available to order on their website. French bakery chain Paul also has them available to pick up from one of their many London locations or to order for home delivery
We will also be singing and listening to songs about la galette in Les Petits Tigres French classes for babies and toddlers when we start again in January, so please join us! Book your spot here.