there are 4 items baked into the cake, each with a particular meaning for the person who receives them: a slice with a ring portends an upcoming marriage, the recipient of the cross is said to be headed towards a convent, whomever bites into a coin will come into money and a piece with a thimble in it symbolizes work.

although carnival in rio is world-renown and associated with the city at every turn, there is truly no more carioca celebration than the one for st. sebastian, patron saint of rio de janeiro.   scholars believe that st. sebastian was born in the 3rd century in narbona, a town in the south of what is now france.