I don't have a cute story about eating Galette des rois or playing cute French games on Epiphany. Unless you are 5 years old, I find anyone playing these illogical games either stupid or pretentious. But it is January and reading repetitive francophilic stories about the galette did make me think of the buttery pastry and the almond cream filling. Food is just about the only thing that makes me nostalgic about my time in France. So last Thursday, I called a few "French" bakeries in town and asked if they made the Galette. Most of them had no idea what I was talking about. Fine. But, one of them was extremely rude for no reason that I decided to prolong his frustration. I took on a fake French accent and asked the same question about 5 times, "Do you make Galette des rois?" "You mean, you don't make Galette des rois?" And then, another 5 times, "Oh, but it's Epiphanie." "You know, Epiphanie." And then, I hung up on him. Suits him for pretending to have a french bakery. After about 4 calls, I found a bakery that would make it for Friday. And it was a Chinese French bakery. Go figure.
The bakery was pretty nondescript. Nothing fancy about it. The owner was really friendly. I made a mental note to come back another time. The galette came with a gold paper crown. The cake was still warm as she handed it to me. As expected, the cake was very buttery, light and flaky. The almond cream filling was smooth and the almond taste was not too overwhelming, just as I like. The bottom layer of the pastry was heavier than I'd have liked, but it wasn't bad. The only thing is, there was no surprise in the cake. M and I did find 2 almonds, though. I guess they are put there as a substitute for an inedible surprise. How disappointing.
And no one to play the queen.
7 comments:
i love galette des roi!!! which bakery did you go to? i'm in los angeles myself on the hunt for one.
- emilie_halpern@yahoo.com
I have yet to find a decent galette du rois in Los Angeles. Michel Richard makes a mediocre one, although it does contain the requisite feve. I've tried making it, with mixed results. If anyone knows of another source, please tell me!
En ce début 2009 je cherche également une galette des rois .
ON m'a dit que " Champagne bakery " en faisait d'excellentes.
Si qq'un connait d'autres adresses ? MERCI.
Where to buy galettes in Los Angeles?
Michel Richard Patisserie, 310 S Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048-
3806 - (310) 275-5707
Sweet Temptation, 3514 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90018-
3236 - (323) 731-1122
Paris Bakery, 1448 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024 - (310)
474-8888
Why wouldn't the author of this blog not give the name of this Chinese bakery???
I agree--why isn't the bakery named? I've bought my galettes des rois at Michel Richard for years and have never liked them (or their feves, which are lousy compared with the one I got in Paris). I've also made my own, including the puff pastry, with mixed results. I'm giving an Epiphany dinner for 12 and would like to be able to buy a great galette, but it seems unlikely that anyone in Los Angeles makes it well.
Best ones in LA at Sweet Temptation. Yvan Valentin is French and the lady that answers the phone probably Asian, so maybe that's the place the author referred to.
Post a Comment