07/01/2024
Dia se Reis/Kings' Day (Epiphany)
The traditional King's Cake.
Eatenin in Portugal
Between 24th December until 6th January
Dia se Reis/Kings' Day (Epiphany)
The traditional King's Cake.
Eatenin in Portugal
Between 24th December until 6th January
Bolo-Rei: symbology and tradition.
The origin of king cake dates back to the time of the Roman Saturnalia celebrations. They had the habit of electing the "king of the party" during the celebratory banquets, which was done by placing a dried bean (symbol of fertility) in a round bread/cake, which whoever found became the king of the bean or king of the party. The Catholic Church took advantage of the fact that that pagan game was characteristic of the month of December and decided to reconvert it and relate it to the Nativity and an Epiphany (the first of which became known as Kings Day), that is, with the days December 25th and January 6th. The influence of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages determined that this last date was symbolized by a bean inserted into a cake, but whose recipe is currently unknown.
Bolo-Rei was popularized in Portugal in the 19th century and follows a recipe originating from the south of the Loire, a crown-shaped cake made from yeast dough. As far as we know, the first place it was sold in Portugal was Confeitaria Nacional, in Lisbon, around 1869-1870. The person responsible was the famous French confectioner Gregoire (Gregório, as he became known), recruited in Paris by Baltasar Rodrigues Castanheiro Júnior, who adapted and used a recipe brought from the French capital. Little by little, other confectioneries in the city also began to manufacture bolo-rei, thus creating several different versions. In Porto, bolo-rei was introduced in 1890, on the initiative of Confeitaria Cascais, according to a recipe that the owner, Francisco Júlio Cascais, had also brought from Paris. The recipes would later cross the Atlantic to reach Brazil where they similarly became a tradition. To find out more and learn the recipe, visit the link:
Impossível falar dos doces natalinos sem citar o majestoso Bolo Rei, com a sua forma de coroa, cheio de frutas cristalizadas e frutos s...