It’s Fat Tuesday! Here’s a little crash course in all things Mardi Gras

Today is Fat Tuesday so go ahead and indulge (as if we needed another reason to eat the good stuff, right?)

Carnival actually began back in January. January 6th (known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day) is the start and the celebration concludes with Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is a day for all things indulgent. Extravagant feasts, parades, cakes, and partying are encouraged the Tuesday before Lent begins.

Carnival (or Carnaval or even Carnevale, depending on where you are it might be spelled differently) comes from the latin phrase meaning “Remove the Meat” –  carne levare. That makes sense why many people do the meatless meals and Friday Fish Fries. Carnival’s name indicates the coming fast of Lent.

Mardi Gras literally translates in French to mean Fat Tuesday.
 Mardi means Tuesday. Gras means fat.

And what’s the best fattening thing to eat on Fat Tuesday? KING CAKE!

In college, I had a really good friend named Stephen Peeples and was from New Orleans. His mom would send us a legit Louisiana King Cake every year and I hope to this day she knows how much his friends in that dorm appreciated her kindness.

The cake always had a little plastic baby hidden in one of the pieces and if you got that piece, it meant you would have good luck, good fortune, and prosperity all the year long. You were officially the “King” or “Queen” of the party.

Now the baby inside the cake also had a religious meaning- as does the entire holiday. It was symbolic of Baby Jesus. But it also meant that if you got the baby in your piece, you were responsible for purchasing next year’s King Cake and throwing the party. We didn’t have to worry about that, though. Stephen’s mom always hooked us up.

The cake was not only delicious but it also was so beautiful. Lots of white icing slathered on and colored sugar decorated the top in the customary colors of Mardi Gras- Purple, Green, & Gold.

Those have specific meaning, too:

PURPLE: represents Justice
GREEN: represents Faith
GOLD: represents Power

So Stephen, wherever you are in the big old world after graduation from Denison University, know I am thinking of you and hope you can give your mom a big old hug from me. And to everyone else, try a King Cake on this Fat Tuesday! I hope you get that piece with the baby…

Want to contact Laura McKenna about Mardi Gras, King Cakes, or anything else that’s on your mind? Email anytime, she’d love to hear from you: [email protected]
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