Macaroons of Paris

I'm now officially obsessed with macaroons, thanks to Robyn. Being crazy and inspired by Gourmet magazine's December desserts, I tried making macaroons at home once, to no avail. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a long weekend in Paris with my dear sister. Besides the sights and sounds, the weekend was like a macaroon pilgrimage for us.

Maccarons are sold everywhere in Paris; and I mean EVERYWHERE, whether it's just a chain bakery or artisan patissiers. The maccaron's status is almost like that of the baguette in France (though not quite, yet). We mostly made our macaroon pilgrimage to the legendary shops we've heard or read of online. The first "macaroonerie" we visited (or really, stumbled upon) was Ladurée on Rue Royale, the very first Ladurée shop. The bakery was founded by Louis-Ernest Ladurée in 1862 and this is the shop that invented the French macaroon. There was a 5-minute long line when we got there consisting mainly of women clamoring for their legendary baked goodies. Besides macaroons (they're on the top three racks in this picture), Ladurée also sells breads and cakes.


Trying to pace ourselves, we bought merely four mini macs (from leftmost, going clockwise): rose, cassis (blackcurrant), pistachio and caramel. Aren't they pretty?


Unable to secure a table at Ladurée (they only allow lunch patrons at the time), my sis and I trekked to a nearby cafe and ordered some wonderfully strong French coffee as accompaniment for our macs. As a sidenote, although I don't normally drink coffee, when I do, I love super strong coffee. The French are pretty damn good at making strong cappucinos; its aromatic bitterness is the perfect contrast to the very sweet macaroons.


The Ladurée macaroons were yummy. My favorite was the nutty pistachio and I think I found out that I don't like blackcurrant. I find their cassis macaroon bitter and sweet, though not in a good way. Another macaroonerie we also stumbled upon is Toraya, a Japanese confectioner that has a Salon de Thé in the heart of Paris. Toraya specializes in the Japanese sweets, known as wagashi; but in their Paris branch, they also have macaroons. Unlike other macarooneries, Toraya's macs have a Japanese twist. Toraya's macaroon offerings include distinctly Japanese flavors such as matcha (green tea), azuki (red bean), kinako (toasted soybean flour), shiro-goma (white sesame) and kuro-goma (black sesame). We tried all five and agreed that we liked all of them. The flavors were strong but not overpowering; the cookies were perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle; the cookie-to-filling ratio was just nice. Unfortunately, my hands were slower than my mouth because I didn't get to take a picture of these wonderful macs. But if you're in Paris, you have to try Toraya macs!


Kitty corner from Toraya was another dessert bar/Salon de Thé, Jean-Paul Hevin that a friend recommended. The shop was inconspicuous and we almost missed it if we hadn't been looking so hard. There were so signs on the front door or window, just a little white piece of wood jutting out the wall of the shop. Upon entering the shop, I thought we got it wrong. It felt very much like an exclusive haute couture boutique or something like that! The counter was full of pretty dessert creations, lined up neatly like little soldiers. Shelves carried the signature truffles in beautiful blue tin cans and cookies in elegant boxes. Again, I tried out some macaroons; I think it was green apple and praline that I tried. Both were chocolatey and I couldn't taste the actual flavors they claimed to be. I guess it's to be expected as JP Hevin is really famous for his chocolate creations. My sister chose one of his meringue chocolate creations that was reminiscent of a giant, fluffy Ferrero Rocher. It was a chewy meringue surrounded with a crisp layer of cookie (I think), that's then chocolate-drizzled and sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts.

Yep, my sis managed to chomp on it before I was able to take a picture I must say that although the macs weren't my favorite, I regret not getting some of his legendary chocolates! Well, there's always next time...

Ok, now, for the macaroon highlight of my life (so far, I hope), I present to you Fetish! If you're a French pastry enthusiast, you probably know what I'm talking about. It is a theme that was launched by the legendary pattisier, Pierre Herme in 2006, to celebrate his "favorite tastes, sensations and epicurean delights". Now doesn't that sound simply pleasurable? And lucky me happened to be in Paris for his first Fetish of the year, and the theme is "Ispahan" this time around.


Ispahan is PH's most famous creation thus far. I've heard about and seen pictures of it all over the blogosphere, only to despair at not being able to taste this mythic pastry ... until now, that is! Ispahan is actually a clear pink, half-open Damask rose originating in the Middle East. Its name is derived from Isfahan, a city in Iran. In the pastry world, Ispahan is basically a novel combination of the flavors of rose syrup, lychee and raspberry that was created by who else, but Pierre Herme himself. We almost didn't make it to his shop because we left it until the last day (I can't believe I actually did this! We should've gone there on our first day!), but fortunately, we had some spare time on our last day to make our pilgrimage to his shop in St. Germain.

Everything about the shop was beautiful. As I went in, I felt like I was entering a box of precious jewels. The walls were a dark, deep chocolate, providing contrast to the bright pastries on the counter and the boxes of cookies and chocolates on the shelves. The store had gone Ispahan-crazy and so did I. There were many Ispahan creations, including cakes, nougats and tea. The PH packaging was also very simple and clean. Guess what I have in my box?


Okay, if you're not jealous yet, check out the loot I had in it!


Now, what about this angle? *winks*


There are really no apt words to describe this genius creation. It was delicious and the flavor combination was definitely more than the sum of its parts. It just simply, magically works! Of course, it helps that the cookies were baked to perfection and it was just so darn pretty! I also like the symbolism of the Ispahan; it combines flavors and ideas across multiple cultures: the macaroon (French), rose (Middle-Eastern), lychee (Asian) and raspberry (Western). I haven't tasted a better pastry ... yet, I hope. If there is a perfect dessert taste-wise and ideologically, the Ispahan is IT! You may think I'm crazy for waxing poetic about a pastry like this, but the Ispahan has inspired me to re-try making macs at home again soon

Of course, one maccaron from PH isn't sufficient to judge his genius, right? Here's our other set of loot (from top to bottom, left to right): olive oil, apricot, 2 Ispahans, vanilla and jasmine. They were all very delicious and beautiful. The apricot and Ispahan macs had a shiny, silvery sheen on the cookies. The idea of the olive oil mac was a bit weird but the flavor was very nice. I could definitely taste the olive oil but it wasn't icky or savory at all. I love jasmine tea and I wasn't at all disappointed by the jasmine mac. Its aroma was pleasant and the jasmine flavor was delicate.


It's quite unfortunate that macaroons are so fragile and delicate. I suppose that's part of its appeal too. If they weren't so delicate, I would've bought boxes of them, enough to sustain me for a few months. After being so spoiled for choice for a few days in Paris, I was yearning for some mac action back here in Chicago. Upon my return, while I was grocery shopping, I remembered that a French-style bakery in the same shopping complex had macaroons. I had one of their pistachio creations and was rather disappointed. It was nicely chewy but it didn't have a nice crisp layer at all. The creamy filling wasn't flavorful enough and the whole mac was ever-so-slightly soggy. I know, I know, I'm so spoiled!!! You probably think that I've snobbed up, having had the best macs in the world. Maybe so, maybe not. I suppose I'll always have Paris...

Ladurée Royale
16, rue Royale, 75008 Paris

Toraya
10, Rue Saint-Florentin, 75001 PARIS

Jean-Paul Hévin
231, rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris

Pierre Hermé
72, rue Bonaparte Paris 75006

From Louisa Chu's blog -- a course that can teach you how to make those macaroons. Though just going back to Paris is cheaper.

http://www.movable-feast.com/2008/02/pi ... m-190.html

Vanille Patisserie sells very good macarons.

Vanille Patisserie
2229 N Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
Tel.: 773.868.4574

Floriole Bakery should be selling macarons in the Green City Market and other markets this summer. After working out of a shared commercial kitchen for two years, the owners are moving to their own commercial kitchen, although I do not think it will be open to the public.

Floriole Bakery
2119 North Rockwell Street
Chicago, Il 60647
312.550.2526

What a wonderful post, marias23!

Thank you!

Very nice post.

When my wife came home from Paris she brought me Macarons from Ladurée Royale, they were great even though they were over 24 hours old. I can only imagine sitting and enjoying them when fresh.

Yes, wonderful post.

Dobra (a/k/a Cookie Monster) makes some awfully fine French style macaroons at her aptly named Delightful Pastries--Lawrence just before Austin.

Vital Information wrote:Yes, wonderful post.

Dobra (a/k/a Cookie Monster) makes some awfully fine French style macaroons at her aptly named Delightful Pastries--Lawrence just before Austin.

yes. those are quite tasty. they are little bite-sized ones.

Bennison's Bakery on Davis St. in Evanston also makes French-style macaroons, and quite good they are.

Hi, new here.

I was so happy to find this topic! Like others, I returned from Paris with a mad craving for French macarons.

I found some at PIE/Epoch 615 N. State that are pretty good, although the flavors are limited.