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AutomationBias t1_j9gtjqk wrote

It's as much a thing in New England as Mardis Gras. I've only ever seen King Cake on the Gulf Coast (e.g. New Orleans).

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britbanana OP t1_j9gur68 wrote

I'm from Northern Virginia and my husband is from Richmond and we both had it throughout our childhoods and in college. I wonder why it's gained more popularity there than here.

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mynameisnoteliza t1_j9hkzck wrote

I'm from northern VA too so I just want to corroborate what you're saying for the other commenters. Every bakery and grocery store has king cakes out the 2 weeks leading up to Mardi Gras.

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britbanana OP t1_j9honao wrote

Thank you! I was starting to question my own memory

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Tacoman404 t1_j9jgp7d wrote

Oh shoot now I understand why we don’t have it here. Our Fat Tuesday celebration isn’t based much at all on the New Orleans/French one. It’s based on the Polish one so we have Pączki instead.

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poprof t1_j9j78o1 wrote

New England was settled by Protestants - Protestant culture still rules. Mardis Gras is connected to Catholic tradition preceding lent.

So I’d guess areas that were catholic/french catholic were more likely to celebrate.

I buy my king cakes online and have them shipped

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AutomationBias t1_j9jd5vp wrote

Massachusetts and Rhode Island have the largest Catholic populations in the country, so I guess it must be the French part that we're missing out on.

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Acrobatic_Resource_8 t1_j9jf1l7 wrote

I guess culturally the bigger question is whether or not there’s a big pre-Lent Carnival season in Ireland. If not, there’s your answer.

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Tacoman404 t1_j9jh1qn wrote

Likely. Our Fat Tuesday foods have more Polish roots with Pączki.

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hillza87 t1_j9jz8ih wrote

New England has a quite a sizable French Canadian population and many of us have connections with the Louisiana French via Le Grand Derangement, i.e. Cajun is the anglicized word for Acadian.

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