The Roscon of Kings is a bun elaborated with a sweet dough with a ring shape, adorned in its conventional format with slices or pieces of candied fruit, frosty or crystallized and although originally did not have a filling, recently (twentieth century) is filled with cream, Pastry cream, truffle or chocolate.
In Biopanadería, you can find them with different flours like a spelled or whole wheat, as well as in artisan variants that remind the first origins of this great bun, with a novelty this year, the Roscon of Vegan Reyes of Biopanadería.
The source Of this dessert is not a Christian, nor does it have to do with the birth of Christ, nor with the arrival of the kings to Bethlehem. It goes back to the second century A.C., in which in the middle of the month of December of the Roman calendar, which was different from the current one, a pagan festivals prayed to Saturn, God of Agriculture. They were called, as not, Saturnalia.
The Saturnal was a period of celebrations, a week, during which, the slaves did not have to work, therefore, knew them as "slave”.
During that week, a cake based on honey was elaborated in which nuts, dates and figs were introduced. This preparation took annual character and in theIII century D.C. The one introduced bean, who considered it Fortune and Fertility Symbol, as far as the one who touched him, prosperity was awarded during the year.
Following the Emperor Teodosius, by which Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, many pagan traditions disappeared, but not the cake of the bean that was transforming over time.
At century XVIII, a cook at the service of the king introduces inside the roscón a gold coin to surprise the monarch. From there, the currency acquired a superior symbolic value and the bean became what nobody wanted, because it acquired negative connotations.
Although in Spain the tradition of the Roscón de Reyes was already known, it was Felipe V who introduced the variant with the coin. The date to coincide with the festival of kings was established in the XIX century, with all the current paraphernalia, where the fortunate that has the figurine, instead of currency, it is crowned the "king of the party"And the one who left Haba had to pay the Rosco and at the same time be appointed the"Haba silly", Which is the origin of the insult" tontolaba ".
In Navarra there is a tradition called "King of Faba". This was a courteous party of the day of kings, in which the kings of Navarre dressed a boy with a shirt, shims, etc. And they endowed the chosen with money for studies. This tradition was introduced in the fourteenth century by the Tobalados, French dynasty, specifically by Carlos II.
The coronation of the "King of Faba" was restored by Ignacio Baleztena and the Peña Muthiko Alaiak of Pamplona in 1920 and is celebrated every year in a town in Navarra. It consists that a selection of schoolchildren taste a rod and to which the bean touches is crowned as king.
These are some of the curiosities of a delicious dessert. And you do you know more? We would love to be able to include them in this article on the Roscon!