#SATURNALIA CAKE FULL#

So it was a little dark at the end of your reign,” he said. “In Roman times, and dating back to the Babylonians, if you got the bean, after being king or queen you would be sacrificed to the gods. “Anyone who got the bean would be a king or queen of Saturnalia,” Haines said. Haines says that serving a centerpiece round cake is the direct, if distant, ancestor to New Orleans’ beloved king cakes.

#SATURNALIA CAKE FULL#

This festival, says Haines, was full of markers any New Orleanian would recognize from Carnival: official holidays, costumes and elaborate feasts. “Back then, that time of year would be really difficult - there would be shortages of a lot of things - so they would have a big feast around the solstice.” “It was the shortest day of the year, but every day after that, the sun would rise a little higher,” he said. He said that round cakes, reminiscent of the sun, were eaten during the winter solstice holiday of Saturnalia celebrated in ancient Rome, a holiday that is syncretized with Christian Yule tradition. Rather than merely drawing on French culinary traditions, Haines argues that the true roots of the king cake are far older than France itself, originating in ancient times. Rahm Haus, Saba, Shaya (babka king cake), Sucré, Tartine and Heritage Breads.Ī king cake is iced at the Blue Bowls food truck. There are 75 bakeries featured in the book, and each one has an essay on the baker’s unique story.Īmong the Uptown bakers and bakeries featured in the book are the Audubon Nature Institute, Casa Borrega (taco king cake), Breads on Oaks, Bakery Bar, Bearcat Cafe, Cafe Reconcile, Creole Creamery (ice cream king cake), Compagnon Bakery, District Doughnuts, Gracious Bakery, Haydel’s Bake Shop, Jack Rose bakery, La Boulangerie, Langenstein’s, Levee Baking Co. So it became a celebration of the city’s bakers and bakeries” “The book started out being about king cake, but I quickly realized that it was much more interesting if it was about the unique stories of the people who made king cakes. He began meeting with bakers and compiling the stories and research that grew into the book. “Last year, king cake was the only thing that was typical of C arnival season that we could do,” Haines said. His knowledge and experience in Carnival-season tasting spawned the king cake book.

Randy Krause Schmidt for The Big Book of King Cake

Saturnalia cake