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| A pastry chef selling King Cakes (Galette des Rois). |
In spite of having been married to a native French speaker for many years, I'm not fluent in French. But since we raised our children in a bilingual home, my comprehension is usually fairly accurate. All of this is just a roundabout way of admitting that I felt really foolish after incorrectly translating maladie orpheline on Twitter. Here's the tweet:
Best pastry chefs in Paris sell King Cakes to fight childhood illnesses. Jan 4. Place Saint-Germain des Prés: quefaire.paris.fr/fiche/76201_la...
In a hurry to help spread the word about a fund-raising initiative by some of the top pastry chefs in Paris, I didn't take the time to google maladie orpheline. Instead, I rapidly translated it as "childhood illnesses" and waited until my walking French dictionary returned home from work. "I'm confused about something," I told Stéphane as soon as he walked through the door, "Why would orphans be more susceptible to chronically obstructed intestines than other people?" With a baffled look on his face, Stéphane asked why I was suddenly worried about orphans with obstructed bowels. "Because they're selling King Cakes to raise money for childhood illnesses. This year the illness is chronically obstructed intestines," I explained. As Stéphane's attempts to follow my tangled thoughts proved unsuccessful, I went straight to the heart of the matter and asked him to translate maladie orpheline into English. When he told me that he had never heard the term, we googled it. Maladie orpheline means rare diseases, not illnesses that are contracted by orphans or children.
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| The sale of King Cakes was so successful that the pastry chefs joked that they were going to start selling the crumbs for 2 euros a piece. |
After we finally figured out which cause we would be supporting, Stéphane and I decided to get our King Cake (Galette des Rois) a day early. We arrived at the Place Saint-Germain des Prés just in time to buy one of the last puff pastries with a frangipane filling. Rather than wait until tomorrow to see who will find the tiny figurine in their slice of cake, Stéphane and I had a piece with our afternoon tea. Since neither of us found the feve, we still don't know who will be crowned king (or queen!) for Epiphany 2014.
Interestingly enough, French presidents aren't allowed to "draw the kings" on Epiphany. In accordance with etiquette, a traditional King Cake minus the plastic figurine and crown will be served to French President Hollande at the Elysée Palace.
Galette du Coeur donors included: Pierre Gagnaire, Pierre Hermé, la Maison Kayser, Michel Troisgros, Alain Dutournier, le Moulin de la Vierge, Potel et Chabot, Poilâne, Hélène Darroze, la Grande Epicerie, Saint Clair le Traiteur, le George V, Michel Rostang, Lucas Carton, les Bistronomes, Thierry Burlot, Bakery, William Ledeuil, la Closerie des Lilas et Clerardin.
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| King Cake |