Tradition or Only Two Days Until King Cake
Louisiana King Cake
Since the close of Mardi Gras last year, I have been patiently awaiting for carnival season to come back around. Last year I enjoyed our first real Mardi Gras in New Orleans, taking in a few parades, yelling “Throw me something, Mister!” at the top of our lungs and finding 101 ways to recycle Mardi Gras beads and stuffed animal throws, enjoying the family Mardi Gras that few people know exist, having seen one too many commericals for Girls Gone Wild New Orleans and developing an odd impression that Mardi Gras represents all of the sinfulness the city has to offer. What I have really been waiting for, since the last day of Mardi Gras last year, more than anything, was the return of king cake. King cake, for me, is proof the God is real and he loves me, otherwise he wouldn’t have inspired such a tasty treat to indulge in for a few weeks of the year. Tradition dictates that king cake is shared starting 12th night, or January 6th until Mardi Gras day. This is a tradition that came with the first French settlers to New Orleans, but dates back centuries in Europe, borrowing the hidden token from ancient Roman festivities. Who am I to mess with a tradition like that?
Not keeping this tradition, quite frankly, makes me cross. It especially makes me cross when it comes from a bakery I will not name who have made a business out of their king cakes – the same baker that began selling king cakes with Black and Gold and calling them Saints cakes instead. Or when king cakes are set out for sale in a grocery store that brags it’s all about Louisiana. I’m not even from Louisiana originially and to me, I know this is just, well, wrong.
It’s a problem I see happening more and more, traditions broken for selfish pursuits. It may seen a little silly to some, them thinking it just being a cake and easily made in July if so desired, but to me it’s more than that. It’s a smaller example of a bigger problem in our society and it’s part of what makes us here in Louisiana, well, Louisiana. It separates authentic Mardi Gras from the silly Mardi Gras parties and bars that pop up over the US that only want to promote the indulgence of alcohol – and y’all from down here KNOW Mardi Gras is so much more than that. Sometimes traditions aren’t bad and sometimes they need to be held onto. I think we, as a society in general, have lost a lot of our traditions, becoming slaves to instant gratification and instant results. We just don’t take the time to appreciate what has come before us, assuming that quicker and faster automatically means better.
It doesn’t.
