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Cajun Country

Mardi Gras and KingCake Traditions

 



'Louisiana Tradition of the King Cake'

Carnival begins 'the season of feasting', twelve
days after Christmas on January 6th, known as
"Twelfth Night"or "King's Day". The most popular
'food custom' in Louisiana during the season is
the "King Cake". It is a New Orleans tradition, which
has spread across the state of Louisiana. It has
even found it's way into some of the neighboring
states. The custom of the King Cake, originally,
symbolized the visit of the 3 Wisemen to the manger.
Today, there are a large varity of king cakes. In the
Bayou area, tradionally, most are cinnamon-filled,
shaped in a circle, glazed with a powdered sugar
icing, sprinkled with colored sugars in purple
(justice), green (faith) & gold (power), with a plastic
baby baked inside cake dough. It is the custom that
whoever gets the baby in their piece of cake, must
provide the next cake and/or party. The person
that gets the baby on the last cake or party of the
season, kicks off the cake or party of the next
carnival season. Most bakeries, now days, leave
the baby outside the cake for the customer to add
(due to potential lawsuits). Today, the king cake is
baked with an assortment of fillings, such as
cream cheese, blueberry, cherry, lemon cream and
apple, as well as the tradional cinnamon-filled.
                   
     'History of MARDI GRAS'
           ("Fat Tuesday")
 
Mardi Gras was celebrated in the christian countries
of Europe long before the founding of the Crescent
City. The day French-Canadian explorer Sieur
d'Iberville and his men camped 60 miles south of
New Orleans in 1699 happened to be Mardi Gras,
March 3, so he named the place Pointe du Mardi
Gras. It didn't take long for the French to start
celebrating this holiday in the New World.
Historians say that Mardi Gras was observed by
masked balls and bawdy street processions in
New Orleans as early as the 1700s. By 1806, the
festivities had gotten so rowdy that Mardi Gras
celebrations were forbidden, but by all accounts,
this law was summarily ignored. In 1817, masks
were declared illegal. But by 1823, the celebration
that had been going on all along became legal
again, and by 1826 even masking was legalized.
"Bals masque" (masked balls), also, known as
"tableau balls", were so fashionable in the
nineteenth century that by law the season was
limited to January 1 through Mardi Gras Day in
order to keep the population from celebrating all
year long. In 1827, it was reported that John
Davis's Theatre d'Orleans was such a glorious
event that it continued straight from Mardi Gras
until St. Joseph's Day (March 19). By 1837, the
"season" was lengthened to last from November 1
to June 1. There is much debate as to whether the
first formal parade was held in 1835 or 1838, but no
matter, the parades that traversed the muddy
streets are said to have been wicked and satirical.
The first krewe to parade was the Mystick Krewe
of Comus. The official carnival colors are PURPLE
(justice), GREEN (faith) and GOLD (power). The
official song of carnival is "If Ever I Cease to Love",
adopted axp. 1872 and still today the offical carnival
song.