A little history
Colombier is a cake made in Marseille for Pentecost, the Christian festival celebrating the Holy Spirit on the 50th day after Easter (always a Sunday between 10 May and 13 June). It is also known as the ‘peace cake’ or the ‘good luck cake’.
Legend has it that when Protis and Gyptis got engaged, a big meal was organised for Gyptis to find her a fiancé. She then baked this famous oval cake and hid a dove-shaped bean (hence the name ‘Colombier’) in order to decide between her many suitors. It was Protis, of course, who found the bean, and who, along with Gyptis, was responsible for the creation of Marseille around 600 BC.
The tradition has been perpetuated and the saying still goes that the person who draws the dove must prepare for his or her wedding within the year.
However, there are several versions, and some say that the colombier appeared in the early 1900s in response to a particular problem: transporting the cake to the cabins in the creeks. With limited access, this pastry had to be easy to transport, so it didn’t need to be kept in a cool place.