The Great Macaron Hunt of 2007 + making macs at Jacques Torres
- By Robyn Lee
- Apr 6, 2007
- Comments
"Let's meet at 9 AM."
9 AM? What the...huh? Is the sun up at that time? I can wake up before 9 AM, but the idea of being on the other side of Manhattan on a street that enters the three digit numbers wearing non-pajama attire while being semi-functioning is another matter. It may not be akin to climbing Mount Everest, but hey, it's my Everest. The Everest for pathetic lazy people.
...WHO LOVE MACARONS! 2000% macaron lover Tina suggested the 9 AM meeting time at Silver Moon Bakery to start our quest to find the best macaron in NYC. She somehow convinced her friends, Helen, Joo Hee, Giulia, Julie, and Seungmi, to join us on our gluttonous adventure. Not that convincing someone to eat at a bunch of bakeries for a day is like pulling teeth. Out of an angry hippo.
I started with a croissant because light, buttery layers of dough are the best way to jump start your body. I don't care what those cereal boxes say; it's just marketing. You don't need all those vitamins and fiber, you just need a FREAKIN' CROISSANT. Silver Moon's feathery light croissant is a beautiful representation of the croissant family and so far the best one I've had in NYC. I know Patisserie Claude's croissants are beloved, but his are mega-dense. Dense is not my style. I want something so light that it will turn into dust if I accidentally sit on it. Know what I mean? Yeeeah. I don't actually perform the "sit test" but I can predict what will happen based on sight and mouthfeel.
Helen's pain au chocolat also looked quite fluff-tastic and light. Like a really ineffective and tasty prison for a small slab of chocolate.
Tina's whole wheat raisin walnut brioche looked like no other brioche I've ever seen before, probably because I've never looked into the heart of a whole wheat brioche. My brioche experiences have all been of the white-ish yellow, light and fluffy kind. This brioche didn't fit my profile of brioche-ness, but it was good as something somewhat muffin-y and bread-y with walnuts and raisins. If that's what you want.
Yes, I'm aware that was a crappy description. MOVING ON.
It was time to eat the star of our visit: MACARONS! Silver Moon's macarons come in either almond or chocolate, both with chocolate ganache filling, and are of the large variety (perhaps 3 inches in diameter), thus making the $2.50 price tag reasonable.
2:1 cookie to filling ratio? Check. Moist cookie? Check check. My chicken scratch-esque notes read, "Not too chewy, light crisp crust, soft innaaards, not too sweet." Overall, it was a good macaron and much more enjoyable than what Tina and I had previously eaten at Bouchon Bakery (which ended up being the theme for the entire day.)
The chocolate macaron was a little fatter and smaller in diameter, I suppose because the cookies had more air in them. I didn't have a preference between the chocolate or the almond macaron. You may as well EAT BOTH!
Tina tore a baguette into seven pieces for us to munch on as we walked to our next bakery. The baguette was...pretty damn good. I would've liked chewier innards, but the crust was thick and crunchy and the innards were not completely devoid of character. I'd say it was an above-average baguette, in NYC and perhaps even in Paris. By a smidge.
Out next stop was Georgia's Bake Shop. Instead of sampling an array of goodies, I decided I had to keep my eye on the prize, and by that I mean my stomach acids would only churn dainty macarons from then on.
However, the chocolate tarts looked very Parisian. I felt a little jump in my heart at the sight of the straight crusted tarts almost overfilled with chocolate goo that threatened to splodge out and kill all the little villagers in rivers of delicious brown goo...what the hell am I talking about?
I ignored the tarts. For I NEEDED MACCIES.
At five pieces for $7 (or $1.40 each if you could buy them individually), these babies lean a bit on the pricey side. The flavors include chocolate, pistachio, strawberry and cinnamon.
The cookies were somewhat chewy with slight crusty action. And they were....very small, perhaps 1.5 inches in diameter without much height. They may have had a high filling-to-cookie ratio, but it's not surprising considering how small the cookies were. The fillings would have been better if they had stronger flavors. Pistachio was the oddest for tasting like cupcake frosting—I'm not sure I would've been able to identify the flavor without the green food coloring. Cupcake frosting-filled macarons don't taste bad, but they catch you off guard if you're used to ganache-y type fillings. I don't know why out of all the macarons the pistachio would be the only one to taste like that.
Overall, these macarons were alright, but not worth the price.
La Maison du Chocolat is where Tina and I expected to find the best macarons. Lucky for us, they had recently rolled out "MACARONS: THE NEW COLLECTION" (yes, they really did call it that, besides individually name each macaron) featuring five flavors of cookies filled with five flavors of chocolate in either the $2 baby size or the $5 monster-that-eats-babies size. For the sake of our stomachs, we stuck with the babies.
I bought the Rigoletto ("A milk chocolate ganache awakens the sweetness of lightly salted caramel to gently charm the palate"), the Guayaquil ("An ivory shell with a dark chocolate center, exploding the fine contrast of flavours: the dark ganache accentuates the subtle hint of vanilla") and the Quito ("A dark robust ganache with intense aromas and exceptional silkiness").
Ignoring the flowery copy written by the good people at LMDC, I'd sum up the taste of the macarons as "AWESOME." Which is why I don't work there.
Is that a 1:2 cookie to filling ratio? Sweet jesus, that is a beautiful sight. Like frolicking through a field of fragrant, blooming wildflowers with some snow capped mountains in the back. Except. Not. Each of the fillings really did have "exceptional silkiness" (the pamphlet can tell no lies) along with the perfect balance of sweetness and non-bitter chocolate flavor.
And this is where my notes really suck: for chocolate I wrote, "so much chocolaaate!" Yup, gonna give myself a hearty pat on the back for that one. I was slightly disappointed by the vanilla since the vanilla cookies were overpowered by the chocolate filling, but hey, the description did say "subtle hint of vanilla". I'd rather be punched by vanilla, honestly. Subtly punched. My favorite was the Rigoletto, for which I wrote "SALT!!! fave". Oh yes, my masterful prose is unstoppable, like a rabid squirrel twitching ever so much closer to your baby peacefully sleeping in its carriage (I need to learn how to write better similes). The hint of salt in the burnt caramel charmed the shizz out of my palate. Just the way I like it.
And then it was time to devour Tina's macarons: the Romeo ("A milk chocolate ganache gracefully compliments the complex, rich flavours of Arabica coffee from Kenya") and the Salvador ("Under a pink shell is an amazing dark ganache bursting with the flavor of fresh raspberry").
If looking at gory macaron innards all the time ever becomes off-putting, let me know. Not that I'd stop showing them to you or anything.
Although coffee and raspberry are my least favorite macaron flavors, these were hella good. The coffee wasn't full of that blech bitter taste that makes me dislike coffee (and everything else that is bitter and wrong in the world) and the raspberry just had this great "tastes like a real raspberry" flavor. Maybe that's why I don't usually like raspberry and chocolate; the raspberry part tastes too sweet or gooey or something else that takes it far away from what a raspberry actually tastes like. Or maybe I only like raspberry and chocolate when they're paired together in a macaron made by LMDC. It's possible.
One of my friends expressed SHOCK and HORROR when he realized that I actually ventured into Brooklyn. Hey, I do that! Sometimes! Rarely. Well. I'm lazy. Disturbingly enough, I had never been to Almondine before. What a fool I have been.
They have many delicious things, like cupcakes piled high with swirled frosting and GREEN SQUIGGLIES. There was also a nice selection of sandwiches, bread, and all kinds of French pastries that I would've loved to eat, except I was there for...
MACARONS! Not macaroons! They should correct the misspellling. But I'll cut them some slack because they sell a box of seven macarons for the low price of $6.
The macarons unfortunately suffered from some jostling and squishing action due to being carried around in my handbag from Almondine through our meal at Grimaldi's (which I will talk about after the macarons). For lack of anywhere else to eat, we unpacked the macarons on one of those bench thingers on the dock behind Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.
The brown macaron looked like chocolate at first until we split it open and immediately realized...um, nope. The smell of roasted peanuts hit our nasal passages; PEANUT BUTTER! What could be so un-French (or American) as good ol' PB? This macaron won many awesome points for being a great flavor.
Next up was apricot, another unconventional flavor. Unfortunately, the level of sweetness was diabetes inducing, like apricot flavored candy...dipped in sugar.
Strawberry also suffered from being too sweet. Macaron filling shouldn't taste like candy. WHAT IS GOING ON?!
The lemon macaron luckily hadn't been injected with sugar. After the other two fruity macarons it was surprising to taste a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. Also surprising was that the soft cookie didn't flatten or look like a fly that had smashed into a windshield. Besides the peanut butter, this was my favorite of the bunch.
The pistachio had the same odd cupcake frosting flavor/texture as the macaron from Georgia's Bake Shop. Perhaps it's just really hard to get awesome pistachio paste. Or everyone is using the same bad recipe.
Although I didn't speak highly about all the macarons, overall I thought they were really good. They were definitely the freshest that we had eaten all day, as illustrated through the soft, barely chewy, thin crusted cookies (none of which suffered from being too sweet, unlike the jammy fruit fillings). The fillings were also alarmingly soft, for better or worse. These are definitely the best macarons for the price.
So. Back to Grimaldi's.
Our macaron hunting itinerary didn't include lunch, but at some point we realized that we couldn't sustain ourselves on sweet baked goods. At least, not comfortably so. After all the sweets a part of our bodies craved something with sodium. More specifically in the form of pizza.
But it almost wasn't meant to be. While walking to Almondine we actually passed a gourmet supermarket from which the drool-inducing smell of fried chicken wafted out, taking over the entire block in a haze of invisible fat particles. Tina and I automatically lifted our noses in the air while thinking, "WTF, WHERE'S THE CHICKEN?" (or maybe that was just me; I totally think in caps), but we couldn't actually see it. Otherwise I may have required a fried chicken detour.
Oh man, humans! Yes, in case you needed proof that I actually didn't eat all this stuff by myself, here's part of our happy group of fooders (left to right: Giulia, Tina, Julia, moi, and Seungmi) while waiting in the unavoidable line to get into Grimaldi's.
After a not insanely long wait (but longer than if we hadn't been a party of 6) we were allowed to sit at the red checkered clothed table ready to receive a pizza feast.
Although we planned to get two different pies, some miscommunication resulted in getting two of the same pie: basil and garlic. Oops. Well. Whatever, it's a tasty combination.
I love this pizza. At least, I can't think of anything wrong with it. The slightly chewy crust is thin but strong enough to hold up the toppings, and the toppings aren't so heavily plopped on that they would weight down the crust. See, IT ALL BALANCES OUT (unless you order too many toppings, so...don't do that). I love love love fresh, slightly sweet mozzarella and while I tend to recoil in horror when there's too much cheese, this pizza actually tastes really awesome with extra cheese. Because the cheese is awesome. Duh.
Two pies was just enough to satisfy the stomachs of six young women. However, next time I go back I'm gonna need more.
Be sure to check out Tina's macaron-laden entry and non-macaron-laden entry about our Sunday of stomach gorging! She deserves props for doing most of the organizing and rallying up a bunch of cool friends to follow us crazy macaron lovers around as through it were a totally natural pastime to go to four bakeries in one day and then cap it all off with pizza.
But wait, there's more...alllways more...
My otherwise disgustingly wet Wednesday was saved by Lisa's invitation to trail her for the morning at Jacques Torres on King Street where she regularly performs her duties as pastry chef (or "cookie bitch", whichever term you prefer). I stepped behind the sliding glass door behind the counter and entered the world of...
...Chinese take out? For some reason when you stand near Jacque's computer all you smell is something chickeny, wafting in from an unknown source. But aside from that, the chocolate factory is full of...um, chocolate. Giant bags of chocolate, stacks of finished chocolate treats (at this time of year taking the form of armies of bunnies and eggs), gigantic machines that process and package the chocolate and brown colored floors (not caused by chocolate) remind you that you're in a chocolate factory in case the brief chicken smell threw you off. It might be ironic then that I didn't actually deal with chocolate during my few hours there.
After Lisa gave me a tour of the factory, we got working on cubing marshmallows. Marshmallows! Yes, the first thing I ate that morning was a chocolate marshmallow. They're good. JT's are made of gelatin, sugar and corn syrup, no egg white. Lisa said that she found the marshmallows too sweet, but after popping a chunk of mutated marshmallow deemed too ugly for the general public into my mouth, I decided that they weren't too sweet. And then I ate some more.
Cubing the marshmallows involved chopping a long sheet of marshmallow into smaller (but you know, still huge) squares and cutting those squares with a guitar, once to form those long log-like guimauves I had in Paris and after a 90 degree turn cut again to create the more manageable cube shape. After being cut, the cubes were tossed in a 50/50 mixture of confectioners sugar and cornstach so they wouldn't all be permanently stuck to each other.
After we finished cutting the marshmallows, it was time to make the best thing ever: MACARONS! JT's medium-small sized macarons come in chocolate, raspberry and passion fruit for $1.25 each. Lisa and I had the task of making (with some eating, naturally) passion fruit macarons.
After I mushed together egg whites, almond flour and confectioners sugar with a bit of orange and red food coloring, Lisa beat together egg whites and a hot simple syrup (or maybe it was corn syrup, I don't remember) with a few drops of lemon juice to keep it from crapping up. The resulting Italian meringue was stiff and glossy. I wanted to scoop it into my mouth. It was BEAUTIFUL.
But we needed the meringue for the macarons. Lisa effortlessly folded the meringue into the almond-y paste, ending up with a light, somewhat peach-colored batter. If I did it, there would've been sticky orange goo all over the table.
We shoved the batter as neatly as we could into a plastic piping bag (not that it would stay neat for long) to form the cookies on parchment paper-lined sheets. Lisa was obviously skilled at the "making all the batter plops uniform and pretty" thing and pulling the tip of the bag away from the batter plop with a neat wrist-flick. I, on the other hand, formed plops of various sizes and had trouble getting the wrist-flick thing down without deforming the plop too much. However, I think I did a decent job for my first macaron-making experience. Not like I poisoned anyone.
I weighed out the white chocolate for the passion fruit ganache while Lisa cooked some passion fruit puree, heavy cream and sugary goo to mix with the white chocolate into macaron filling.
While we waited for the macarons to bake and ganache to cool down, I tried a chocolate macaron. It was....awesome? Yes. At least, I have no complaints. Thin crust, moist, not very chewy innards, lots of filling, not too sweet, satisfyingly rich, etc blah blah. I have no problem eating macarons, but I've gotten pretty sick of describing them.
We were probably a little too excited when we took the macarons out of the oven and they looked nearly perfect! I mean, as perfect as my malformed blobs could look!!! They rose very nicely and formed smooth crusts. Lisa wanted them to have larger feet, but I thought the feet came out good. Not that I have any idea what factors affect feet-ness.
I let Lisa fill the macarons since my skills were way below par. Besides, I was much better at finding matching cookies to complete each passion fruit macaron sandwich and may have had a little too much fun satisfying smooshing the halves together, making sure that the filling was adequately distributed over the cookies' surfaces.
OOOOH YEAAAH! (I cannot explain why I've been saying that so much lately, especially since I never drank Kool Aid growing up, but maybe all those years of being subjected to Kool-Aid advertising as a wee laddie and subsequently wondering, "Why the hell would anyone drink something made out of powder?" have finally caught up with me. 15 years later. OHHH YEAAAHHHHRAHAHRH!! [excitedly smashes through a brick wall, oddly alarming no one on the other side])
Our macarons were pretty awesome. Sure, I'm slightly biased, but ...whatever! They were good! Even after I ate a crapload of them! Lisa and I agreed that they could've used more passion fruit flavor, but besides that we deemed them a success.
Unfortunately, JT may only offer these macarons until Easter as they're mainly available for the purposes of non-wheaty Passover. Hello, CRAZY! Everyone demand these macarons so that they'll continue to make them, as they should. As everyone should. In the entire world. And even distant planets.
Although Lisa was probably happy to have some free labor on hand, I was equally (or more) overjoyed to work around delicious things and see how they were made. Lisa, feel free to use me ANYTIME, as long as I can get paid in marshmallows/chocolate/macarons/etc. One may think that working in such an environment would pack on the pounds, but dude, that stuff is hard work (at least, it's a workout for me...disturbingly enough). At one point we rolled out huge lumps of refrigerated biscotti dough into long logs, requiring us to push all our weight against the semi-solid dough that stubbornly refused to change out of "ugly lump" form. By the end I felt aches in muscles that I apparently haven't used in the past 21 years.
I kind of want to work at JT to learn how to do the whole "making food" thing instead of (or before) possibly going to culinary school. Hm. Hmm. A-humhamhem.
I dunno what I'm doing with my life.
A quick macaron run down
If you didn't want to read this whole post, I don't blame you. Here's a stripped down version of my macaron ratings (including stuff not from the macaron hunt):
Best overall: La Maison du Chocolat
Price: $2/small, $5/large
Flavors: vanilla, raspberry, coffee, chocolate, and caramel with chocolate ganache fillings
Best for the price: Almondine
Price: $6/box of 7 smalls
Flavors: Peanut butter, lemon, apricot, strawberry, pistachio
Not bad for the price: Jacques Torres
Price: $1.25/smallish
Flavors: chocolate, raspberry, passion fruit (available around Passover)
Not bad, not that interesting, but you should go at least get some croissants: Silver Moon Bakery
Price: $2.50/large
Flavors: Almond, chocolate
Not very good for the price: Georgia's Bake Shop
Price: $7/box of 5 smalls
Flavors: Chocolate, pistachio, strawberry, cinnamon
Also not very good for the price: Bouchon Bakery (read Tina's review)
Price: $2.75/mediumish
Flavors: seasonal. I think things like vanilla, chocolate and caramel are standard.
Uh...no: Tisserie (my review)
Price: $2.50/fat smallish
Flavors: pistachio, raspberry (?), lemon (?)
Haven't been there in a while, but I'm guessing it's just ok: Financier
Price: $7/box of eight smalls, $1.50/med-large
Flavors: Pistachio, coconut, raspberry, chocolate, maybe others
We haven't tried Payard yet!
addresses
Silver Moon Bakery
2740 Broadway
Georgia's French Bake Shop
2418 Broadway
La Maison du Chocolat
30 Rockefeller plz
Almondine
85 Water St
Brooklyn, NY
Grimaldi's
19 Old Fulton St
Brooklyn, NY
Comments
ahhhhh! I can see it! with each and every post, your future is leading closer and closer to pastry chef! that must have been a pretty amazing experience you had there at jacques torres...it's meant to be! ;)
(I hope nyu isn't giving you any more hard times about graduation, that was really unfair of them not to bring the credit issue up with yu earlier - a month before graduation, what the hell are they thinking!)
OMG MACARONS. I think this is your best post ever because it details places where I can get some macarons.
I am impressed like whoa. That is more organization and macaron eating than I could do in a week!
Also, I love the way you describe food. It is unlike anyone else, and it is hilarious and vibrant and makes me wish that I had been there.
WOW! that is one hell of a post! thanks for making my day at work a lot hungrier! anyhoo,if you're into beady eyes men doodles birthed from the hands of cute japanese people, will you please look at THISSSS
http://www.powershovelbooks.com/drawings-s/
i think i'm beginning to sound like an internet con/salesperson but naw, just sharing info.
First off, you need pajama attire that doesn't look like pajama attire.
Secondly, were you trying to make a Pac Mac in the lemon macaron picture on the right?
You missed the 5-pack at Petrossian on 7th Ave.
Odd flavors but they tasted right texture-wise
Peanut Butter and Peach?!
Also the new French Pastry shop on Broadway in Astoria, Le Petite Prince has cute little ones for $.90 :)
Try Supermarche Champion's dozen box next visit.
Surprisingly good as still life subjects and to eat too!
Kathy: AHHH, I don't think I see this pastry chef thing as much as you do. ;) I really like eating stuff though. Um. Y...yay!
NYU cares about me, but only half-assed! They wanted to make me sweat. :(
Amy: You should also go to Paris for macarons. And other things. :)
C: I'm glad you like the way I describe food; I get pretty tired of saying "awesome" all the time, but my vocabulary is extremely limited. Oops.
God is Cupcake: I like those cute Japanese drawings, thanks! Why do they naturally make stuff so cute? Not fair.
Marvo: But the point of pajamas is to look like pajamas!...
Nope, but I see the resemblance. Kinda. Like if Pac Man had been totally...cut in half and then badly put back together. JUST LIKE THAT!
PB: We had Petrossian on our list but didn't think it was important enough to go to. Perhaps...another time? I'll try to check out Le Petite Prince also!
"where she regularly performs her duties as pastry chef (or "cookie bitch", whichever term you prefer)."
you are hilarious. I wish I could have made it to the hunt! =( I had family obligations. Laaaaame.
Who could possibly not enjoy looking at gory macaron inards? I will never tire of it. Never.
I think you should work in a bakery before you go to culinary school. You get way more experience that way and don't waste time in lectures. Plus you get paid to learn everything rather than paying a lot to learn. Anyway, I don't know that you really wanted/needed my opinion, but that was my situation before, so I thought I'd share...
Bouchon bakery in the Time Warner Centre also has macarons :) Macarons by Thomas Keller!
Wait, let me make sure I understand this. Something was TOO sweet for you? I didn't think that was possible!
What - no Fauchon? Their fruit flavored macaroons are really good - the equal of the Paris Fauchon.
Susannah: It's probably good that you like your family enough to choose them over macarons. :)
Natalia: MACARON INNARDZ 4 EVER!!!
I totally want to get paid to learn, not the other way around! If I am crazy maybe I can work at JT! (Also helps if they're crazy enough to hire me.)
Sam: Yeah, I've tried them and...eeuh...I didn't really like them. :( But I cut Keller some slack because he's not French. Meeh.
Charlie: Ah yes, it happens! Rarely! Especially since I have a history of eating honey straight out of the jar and that tends to be kind of sweet.
Mike: Fauchon is closed at the moment (moving to a new location or something?). Otherwise it was on our list!
What an amazing little trip. I totally wish i was there. I realize some of hte macorons were exceptionally delicious, but which ones were most like the best one's in France? I almost cried, because the peanut butter one looked so good. Miss you! Yeah!
"Macaroon" is actually correct in English- "macaron" is the French word.
Either way, I'm a big fan!
you know, my idea of a macaroon is those coconut ones we have during passover sedar. i've never had a french macaroon. you keep writing about them, but i have yet a chance to have one. hmmm....
"I'd rather be punched by vanilla," "Subtly punched."
Best quotes of the week. :) Love your posts, per usual, Robs.
We should go on a falafel hunt...
Sarah: Best macarons in France = PIERRE HERME! Nothing compares. :'( Too bad he doesn't make a PB one.
Anon: I know, but I think it makes more sense to use the French spelling since the French macarons are so different from the shredded coconut stacks everyone is used to here. TASTIER TOOO! (Uh, in my opinion.)
Rose: Well now that you know where to get macarons you should try em. :) Or just wait until you go back to Paris!
Deb: Thanks! I make punching FUNNEH!
Oo, falafels, yes. Well, I do have some faves in NYC. And un-faves.
I agree with whoever said you should become a baker - pastry or bread, as long as it's carby, you're golden. Think how much money you'd save!
I see you were up in my old 'hood - Silver Moon, the official bakery of privileged Columbia students. (I never bought anything because of the price, but I tried samples of almost all their breads. Then I went to Absolute Bagel for some cheap bagel goodness.)
OMG I have found a way to get the recipe for Pierre Herme Chocolate Macarons. They are in the book Chcolate Desserts by Pierre Herme and all you do is search it on Amazon and then use the search inside feature (search for macaroons becaues that is what they are called in the book) and there you go. Pierre Herme is as far away as your oven! I am so trying this tomorrow!
After coming back from DC for the weekend, I miss NYC. The food scene is mostly disappointing for the lower budgeted people.
Anyways, you've written about our macaron hunt waay more entertaining and funnier than my two posts (as always)! I just hope Jacques Torres would make the macarons year round so we can actually do another macaron hunt of other bakeries we haven't gone to yet; then have some duck confit and gelato to balance some things out and we can die happily.
I'm going to be in NYC in September and you are giving me great ideas for my food/restaurant list. Thanks! Must write down macaron/heaven places now.
I'm officially addicted to your blog. ;)
BTW, if you ever find yourself in Seattle, do go to Belle Epicurean for some fantastic pastries. Flaky, tender goodness. We just discovered it this weekend!
Rob, finally you were able to see the process of making french mac! I remember your e-mail before on how you envy me when I told you I attended a class with a friend teaching us on how to make french macs. Keep on posting more about macarons. :)
piccola: Mm yes, I could totally live off whatever I make in the bakery. I mean, live until I get diabetes!!!
Oh god, if I lived by Silver Moon, I would've been...pretty happy. Ehe. EHEHEHE. Non-stop carbing, oh yeah.
Tina: Aw, DC ain't too awesome? Unless you're rolling in the dough? :(
I HAVEN'T HAD DUCK CONFIT IN AGES (okay, since Paris), we must get some.
qbots: I'm glad I could help! I find it funny that you're planning for a trip that isn't for another 5 months though, ehe. ;) (Not that you're really planning your whole fooding itinerary!)
Ohh, I should go to Seattle. ...No really...hm! Hmmm. Maybe. I should plan for that. I have a friend who lives there and now you've given me a food rec; I MUST GO.
petitefleur: And what a great process it was. I want to do it again...and eat the spare macarons...
I'll keep posting about macs if I get more to eat! Which I haven't in a while. Well. Since I wrote this entry. That is "a while" for me.
whatever u do, don't go 2 financier, unless u want 2 pay them 2 dissapoint u! look at what they pass off as a macaron: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bionicgrrl/343533694
Time Magazine's european edition this week has a tiny article about Pierre Hermé versus Ladurée Macarons, obviously praising your favorite one ;)
I need to try these things. As soon as possible. I've had these little macaroony things made with almond flower, but they just tasted like too much sugar. I eat them anyway, though. I want to try what you call macarons -- I love sandwich cookies, so sandwich cookies in spectacular flavors (by which I mean almond, pistachio, almond, lemon, or almond) sound like the perfect dessert. Besides gelato, of course.
I finally went to Belle Epicurean today (it's only a 5 minute walk from my office, which is dangerous... so I've been avoiding it because I'm already heavy enough). I also recommend it, especially if you're into brioche and sugar.
Personally, I'm still partial to my Cafe Besalu bakery close to my 'hood, for a butter-and-egg laden croissant and quiche/tart 10:30 am weekend brunch.
If you're ever in Seattle, Hiromi and I will take you to a couple of good places for fancy and not-so-fancy food :)
bionicgrrl: Whoa, that's less than when I went there. Because it looks like...you got no filling. For anyone else who doesn't click on the link:
NOT A MACARON. :[
Yann: If I wrote that article, it would go, "PIERRE HERME IS THE BEST EVER THE END", which is probably why I don't write for Time.
vache qui rit: Macarons that are too sweet (or anything that's too sweet) are a turn off. :( As for gelato, you make me wanna eat a...gelato sandwich made with macarons. [eyes glaze over] Someone should be able to make that!
Jason: Brioche and sugar? Why yes, I am quite a fan.
And buttery croissants.
Thanks for the invitation! I'll let you know if I'm ever in the hood. The newflash would be, "Tourist Depletes Croissant Supply of Neighborhood Bakery".
Financier's mini macs are pretty chewy for the most part. The coconut, lemon, and coffee mini's are the only exception; they're a pretty balanced combination between sweetness, moistness, and crispness.
This is an excellent summary though. I've never been over the river to Almondine. I must try non-French Reese's macarons.
That Kool-aid comment made me laugh out loud! Living in f-ing Texas I've never had a macaron, but I would gladly reach into my screen to share some of yours. If only that were a possibility....*dreams for 10 minutes about cookie-computer technology*. Uh, but yeah, wish you could bust through my office wall and liven my work day with some maccies.
I LOVED your post!! Are you going to coordinate a second round of visits? I would love to replicate this exact day together!!
Let me know....
-Carla
Laura: Financier needs to use more filling, it seems. Booo. :[
I hope you get to try Almondine! I have to go back for non-mac goods.
Jessica: I'm glad the Kool-Aid man amuses you do. I don't get it...like WHY IS HE BUSTING THROUGH THE WALL?! The drink is not that awesome. It's negative awesome. Damn marketing.
I can be Mac-Aid, BUSTING THROUGH WALLS WITH DELICIOUS TREATS.
Carla: Glad you liked it! I don't think I'll do a second round of visits, but perhaps check out some other places. Not four in one day, haha.
Hi Robyn! I'm eating my last piece of Pierre Herme's macaron right now--omg I just want to cryyy... But anyway, this post is so informative and now I'll definitely have to go check out La Maison's chocolatey macarons (which I'll probably love due to their chococentric-ness) and Jacque Torres' passion fruit macarons actually look really good too. I hope they still make them!
btw, I loooooove your blog =)
Ooooh, I LOVE Silver Moon! Sometimes I do miss the UWS...
Dude, next time you go to Silver Moon Bakery, totally go for one of the flavored breads. Their apricot-hazelnut parisienne is AWESOME. (And I don't usually like hazelnuts, but it's soooo good.) So is their chocolate-orange baguette, although that's more recognizably-sounding awesome.
Anisa: As good as La Maison's macarons were, i realize now that I wouldn't wanna eat that many chocolate flavored macs, even if they were...all flavored in slightly different ways. ARGH I WANT A BOX O PH MACCIES!!
Meg: I don't miss the UWS, but I DO MISS THE BAKERY. :)
Jane: Whoaa aah, those breads do sound awesome! I gotta admit that I barely looked at the breads. My eyes just zoomed in on the macs and cakes and croissants and other related goodies.
I just stumbled upon your blog today, I am a student at CIA, Baking and Pastry. I currently am on extern in NC. That last part about maybe going to culinary school - just wanted to say, if you can afford it, its totally worth it, even if you never want to be a chef. My eyes have been opened in an amazing way, I feel like I was a food fan before, and now i know the behind the scences stuff.
Just came back from Paris and miss macarons. Thanks for the great listing. We did the Pierre Herme vs LaDuree taste test and Herme wins by a mile. I loved the flower flavors - violette, rose, and muguet. Bites of heaven! Wish I could get those here.
Guys instead of looking for macarons in Paris, u really should try the macaron from Mad Mac...no doubt ....the peoples behind that are the 2 formers chef from fauchon!!
I'm stuck in bed recovering from major messy
smashing of the femur...been her 7 months so far.
i escape on the internet, and have SO loved
participating in your macaron forage ....just now
wanered across and read it. But now my lust for
the never encountered fabled macaron (not indigenous in rural Indiana) is OUT OF CONTROL.
please...is there a source for me to order the hse
delicacies to be shipped to be? checking the
websites you listed, none mention shipments....know any bakery which might be
cajoled into making a 'RECUPERATIVE' shipment
for some poor lost sole out there in the
hinterlands whose healing might be mightily
enhanced by pink and yellow and lime delight..
any sources who take paypal or Visa ?
Great story!!
I wonder, if u can share the recipe and steps of make
macaron ^^.
Thank you, enjoying the story a lot.
In a forum, someone mentionned that he was a bit disappointed by the macarons over at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées. That got me wondering how macarons were made, and I happened on this page. Very well done and very funny :-)
Oooh Oooh I have another Seattle recommendation! Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle. The guy won the world championship of baking, beating even the French team! They have very good macarons too. If you come to Seattle you have to go here!
"Ignoring the flowery copy written by the good people at LMDC, I'd sum up the taste of the macarons as "AWESOME." Which is why I don't work there" - Don't forget that since the macarons are shipped from France, a fair amount break on the way over and thus can't be sold, so the staff gets to eat them!
Wow. I don't even know where to start looking for macaroons like that. Makes me wish I was in New York! Thanks for the post!
I stumbled upon your ferociously funny blog via "Serious Eats"..and I've never laughed so hard at a food post in my life. You are brilliant with words AND the culinary acumen is stellar...I'll be back...Never stop writing. Major talent.
Donna: Aw, thank you so much!