
Let’s start at the beginning… And to start at the beginning we have to go back to 27 BC, when Rome began to gestate its Empire. The Romans brought with them a very special tradition, the oldest, most multitudinous and popular pagan festival: the Festival of the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture and crops. Here is the true origin of the Christmas holidays as we know them today. And it is that to talk about the origin of the roscón de Reyes, we have to deal before Christmas.
Origin of the Roscón de Reyes
These apotheosic festivals, the most important social event of the year, were celebrated coinciding with the winter solstice. They began in mid-December, on the 17th, and ended on December 25, coinciding with ‘the birth of the Sun’. But it was also celebrated coinciding with the end of the tasks of the field. The Romans then began a few days of rest in which everything became ‘the world upside down’.
A real ‘world upside down’. To begin with, an exchange of roles was made in the following way: the slaves acted as masters -their lords even let them wear their clothes-, and the masters … Well, they were trying to act like slaves. The important thing is that the slaves had a few days of freedom, they went out into the street, they sang, danced and, as we do today, they took advantage of those idle moments to reunite with their families and friends and exchange gifts.
Evolution of the Roscón de Reyes: A bean decides the fate of a family
Those of slaves and masters were not the only roles that were exchanged, it was also done between parents and children. The little ones became ‘the heads of the house’. But in the meantime, a ‘King of the Saturnalia’ had to be chosen. How to do it? This is where the predecessor of our roscón de Reyes came into play.
So more than a roscón were circular cakes that were sweetened with honey and accompanied by figs and dates. Inside a bean was hidden, and whoever found it, became the King! Today, so many centuries later, the tradition continues although in a somewhat different way: whoever finds that bean in the roscón de Reyes, has to invite. The tradition of the bean seems to have been gradually lost, now the surprises are ceramic and are usually related to good luck. Although there are places where they continue to introduce both bean and surprise in the roscón. Luck for those who find the surprise and those who find the bean, pay.
Of roscón, what is said roscón, in reality we can not begin to speak until the fourth century, when the Church institutionalizes the feast of the Magi and what has been Christmas in general. In 321, Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, and decided that the day of the ‘birth of the sun’ should be considered the day of Christ’s birth. The traditions, now called Christmas, among which was that of distributing sweets with a bean inside, spread rapidly throughout Europe. And that of the roscón, especially in France.
This roscón, called there ‘gâteau de la féve’ (bean cake), arrived in Spain by the hand of Felipe V, who decided to import the tradition from the country of love. We were then in the eighteenth century. As you can see, the tradition of the roscón in Spain is not so old, although its origin is millenary. But in spite of everything we have managed to make the roscón de Reyes something very ours…
The Three Kings and the roscón, tradition in Spain
So ours, that today we speak of the roscón de Reyes as a typical Spanish product, which has been exported to other Latin American countries. And it is that really, this visit in which these three magical characters bring gifts to children, is not usual in almost any country in the world. So having breakfast on the Roscón de Reyes on the morning of the 6th, is even less so.
And we have made it ours also for its shape and ingredients: a sweet bun with a rounded shape, emulating a crown that replaces precious stones with candied fruit of multiple colors, and with a flavor and aroma that can only give the star ingredient of the roscón de Reyes: orange blossom water.