While les gâteaux des rois (king’s cakes) traditionally get eaten on January 6 to celebrate the Christian holiday of Epiphany, shortly thereafter francophones focus their attention on another dessert entirely: the crepe.

Not that people don’t eat crepes year ‘round, because they do. (Whyever wouldn’t you eat a crepe if you could?)

La Chandeleur, the francophone feast of crepes, sounds a lot like “chandelier” (another French word, don’tcha know), and for good reason: For La Chandeleur on February 2, people light candles at home or in church (or both).

They also make piles of crepes, which they then eat with all sorts of toppings and fillings.

The Mysterious Origins of la Chandeleur

Why?

One theory ties it back to Pope Gelasius I giving cakes to pilgrims in Rome and another says it has to do with spring pagan rituals celebrating the coming of spring with something sun-shaped and blessing the harvest to come in the autumn with the remains of the harvest from the previous season.

Likely, it’s a little a both.

During the ancient Roman Lupercales, the priestesses dedicated to Vesta offered cakes made from the last harvest. The ceremony was intended to bless the current year’s grain.

Then Christianity came to Rome, which transformed many of the traditional pagan festivals into Christian festivals—the Lupercales no exception.

Instead of the priestesses, the cakes came from the popes, starting with Gelasius I. And no longer did they bless the harvest to come, but they now fed the pilgrims coming to Rome to honor the church’s designated date for the presentation of Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Traditions and Superstitions for la Chandeleur

How the cakes transformed into crepes in the francophone world, who knows. But who can complain? After all: Crepes.

Whatever the case for the history of the form of the treat, the la Chandeleur holiday does have its superstitions.

If you hold a coin in your dominant hand and the crepe pan in the other and manage to flip the crepe without it falling to the floor, you’ll have prosperity in the year ahead.

Note: My near total lack of coordination means I won’t even attempt this one, as I’m not de facto jinxing myself. I mean, come on.

To skip the flipping but still bring good things: Wrap a gold coin in the first crepe you make, pass it around so that everyone attending holds it in hand for a moment, and then put it somewhere safe for the year. You then give the gold coin to the first person you meet who needs charity.

Okay, might be smelly and critter-attracting, this second one, but at least it’s failsafe. No coordination required.

The Short of It: Eat More Crepes (or Galettes)

Traditionally, the crepes consumed for la Chandeleur are the sweet ones, made of regular white flour with a little sugar (and few other ingredients).

I confess a preference for savory crepes, though: The ones made with buckwheat flour technically called “galettes.”

Savory crepes have their home in the Breton region of France (though you can find them everywhere).

So far, when we’ve made crepes—even though we’ve yet to celebrate la Chandeleur with them, something we need to change—we’ve made exclusively the sweet ones. Maybe next year we’ll celebrate la Chandeleur “Breton style” with a feast of galettes instead.

What say you?