March 4th, 2025, at 3pm.
For my final year as a student within the French Club, I have been trying, as best as I can, to soak in every meeting and learn as much as possible.
As I am officially going to be living in Luxembourg for the next academic year as part of the U.S. Fulbright exchange program, it is now necessary for me to polish up on my French speaking, (as well as begin my study of German and Luxembourgish). Thus, there are now stakes greater than academic enlightenment propelling my study of Francophone culture.
In particular, one of my favorite and more surprising meetings of the semester was involved the meetings regarding Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras (or, “Fat Tuesday”), I learned, is a celebration in France that refers to the consumption of decadent foods before the ritual fasting of Lent. Usually, this celebration takes places everywhere in France between February and March. In the U.K., this holiday is referred to as “Shrive Tuesday” or, “Pancake Day.” While I had known about this British holiday previously, I had not known that it was an equivalent of Mardi Gras!
As the meeting continued, we discussed the various treats and colors associated with Mardi Gras, which reminded me of my own childhood visit to New Orleans! I remember trying “King’s Cake” for the first time, as well as visiting a warehouse full of colorful Mardi Gras floats used throughout the year. King’s Cake quickly became a favorite dessert of mine, and not just for its flavor, but for the tradition surrounding it as well!
King Cakes, (at least in American Mardi Gras), are ring-shaped cakes decorated with purple, golden, and green icing stripes. These colors represent justice, power, and faith, respectively. When the cake is being baked, the bakers hide a small plastic baby inside. Then, the person whose slice includes the plastic baby is said to have good luck and is supposed to host the next King Cake party! As someone who delights in tradition and little bits of every day magic, I appreciate the tradition of the King Cake and am looking forward to learning more about it as I continue my French studies.
