Do you remember biting into your FIRST macaron?
I can't honestly say I do.And it was only a year and half ago or so...
Did lights flash?
Did the earth move?
Granted I have done double duty making up for the years sans(without) macarons...
Before I ever tasted a macaron I remember seeing these cheery colored disks lined up in Angelina's windows
And thinking to myself..
eh?
They looked awfully sweeeeet to me.
That was before I knew better...
Well they are awfully sweeeet but so much more is involved..
Though not if you asked my second cousin K. who lives in Pigalle.
She used to be a oral surgeon and doesn't have much time for macarons.
Chocolat -OUI!
Macarons NON!
Isn't it interesting that macarons are exactly the same shape as the French beret!?
At least my cousin is always wearing a macaron!
Last week Brit in Norway wrote about eating her FIRST macaron...Granted it was a Norwegian macaron...
Does that count?
Since I can't remember my first macaron, I've decided to immortalize Brit's first.
Even if it was Norwegian...
*And Brit has been kind enough to let me use her photos to paint from...
I plan to work more seriously on my macaron expertise next visit to Paris...IN 20 DAYS!!!
Painting them is one thing...
But I would like to become truly discerning about the taste and texture.
I'll be reading as well as tasting and painting.
Not that macs and I aren't already joined at the hip...
Ahem...
Ah my first macaron....
ReplyDeleteI can't remember either!
Quelle domage!
xxAnnie
I remember my first macaron. I didn't like it at all! I was so disappointed. The very strong liqueur flavor turned me off. But since then, I've learned there ones without that taste. And they are so very, very pretty.
ReplyDeleteNow these macarons.
ReplyDeleteI have previously avoided them thinking they were a "coconut festival" but they obviously are not.
What are the shells made of?
Are they crisp and crunchy or soft and cookie or cake-like?
The colors are to die for.
Thanks for sharing your work and beautiful photographs.
For those of you who are longing to have your FIRST REAL experience of a French macaron...
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest ordering from Mad MAc NYC
I don't get any kickback, though I wouldn't mind it if it was in macarons...
Florian Bellanger was the pastry chef of the now much missed New York Fauchon and I have tasted his and can attest they are the REAL thing and excellent!
Alas, another reason I must sell paintings and get to Paris asap. I am, gulp,.... a macaron virgin. Unless the coconut ones count, they were really really fresh. Perhaps I have only flirted with macarons. Ah, mon dieu....
ReplyDeleteNEVER COCONUT!
ReplyDeleteThat's a macaroooooooooooon!
Don't even think coconut when you see these beret-shaped disks or you are out of the game!
No second chances either.
I have yet to experience my first Macaron..Thanks for the website again.. I HAVE to send for some to try!!!! I think todays paintings would be perfect in a book about Macarons.
ReplyDeleteI always had coconut as well and I do not like them at all! These look really yummy though and I do not see the little flakes of coconut I seriously hate. Are they flavored Meringue cookies? What is the filling?
ReplyDeleteTwenty more days till Paris~
ReplyDeletehow fantastique!
I hope you
have started packing!!!
oh i do remember...mine was lavender...but of course...i was 16...what a day...blessings, rebecca
ReplyDeleteI love to hear how addicted you are to Paris and macarons. I can actually remember my first macaron bite because it is not too long ago! ;-) Have fun fun!
ReplyDeleteI looked at your blog.
ReplyDeleteJust now.
I mean, how small is the chance that you are NOT blogging about macarons?
Anyway, made me smile :)
Oh, Carol, the taste oif my first macaron is still somewhere deep inside me. I am going down to Oslo again next week and have a little spare time. Guess where I am going :-)
ReplyDeleteJust a little geography lesson though, Oslo is in Norway, not Sweden :-)
Your photos from my paintings are great. Now I really must check out when my friend is going to NY, and I'll ask her to buy one or all three.......
Greetings from Britt-Arnhild in Norway
Ooh, it all looks so delicious!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't tasted one. Only 17 days until I am able to taste one in Paris.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit nervous in case I don't enjoy it. How do you spit out a Macaron in a stylish way?
At last I stumbled upon a place in Gothenburg that had macarons. They were much smaller than I´ve thought but just as delicious.
ReplyDeleteSo when in Gothenburg go to:
da Matteo in Victoriapassagen. "Passage de Victoria".
See http://damatteo.blogspot.com/
Until seeing the "real" deal here on your site, I, too thought macaroons were the coconut haystacks (which I do like, but I've never met a cookie that I didn't like, unfortunately). But I've never had one like the ones you picture here. Are they like meringue? They are sure pretty to look at!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, thanks for posting the pic of your cousin again. I love her! Just this morning over coffee, I read an article in Vogue about brooches which mentioned the way French women wear them, and I was having a hard time picturing it. Well, now I know!
ReplyDeleteAny chance you'll get more pics of your cousin this time around?
Di Overton when you are in Paris in 17!!! days, try to go to a vertical MACARON tasting-
ReplyDeleteMacarons all the same flavor from different purveyors.
There should be water, crackers and spittoons provided between bites.
If you can't find one, I'll provide the essentials.
A macaron cookie is alot like an Oreo cookie-
2 meringue lids (preferably with feet)
And a jammy or ganache sandwiched in between.
I remember the first time i ate a macaron. It was 21 years ago. I was madly in love with a certain French man, whos ex rich girl friend use to buy him macarons for breakfast!! Anyway, we went to Laduree, I was attracted to the dainty immaculatly decorated petite fours...but hence settled for the plain yet colorful macaron. I had rose. French husband to be had pistachio.
ReplyDeleteThat first bite remind me of what it was like to fall in love! Rich, tender, good from the start to the finish.
Shock! Horror! I have NEVER tasted a macaron... :-( Well I shall have to book that train trip to Paris that I keep hankering after and get some to try.
ReplyDeleteYou are off there in 20 days? Wow! Hope you have a FAB time, which of course you will, and I shall look forward to reading all about it when you return.
P.S. I liked "A Good Year" too, adorable... and Oh! the scenery = beautiful. Sigh... So close and yet so far away.
Oh macaron...how sweet you are! Your photo's are absolutely delicious looking...I think I'll have to try to go out and buy some macarons today!
ReplyDeleteI will never forget my first macaron... in Paris with a steaming tiny cup of 'cafe'...(not quite sure of that spelling).. it was Rose flavor and it was..a..little..like..falling..in..love... I was instantly addicted, and knew that I would always love a country that produced THESE COOKIES. Went to Laduree to buy ELEVEN boxes for my nearest and dearest
ReplyDeleteand MACAROONS (coconut) are a DIFFERENT cookie! :)
The best macaroon in both the taste and texture category would have to be Laduree's caramel macaroon. The rose macaroon has an amazingly silky feeling but I am not much on rose-flavored pastries. My husband would disagree as he simply adores them.
ReplyDeleteLaduree's macaroon are the only ones which make me swoon.
the only macaroon I have ever actually spit out was a saffron flavored one from Pierre Herme.
When he started making them a while back, he did this whole savory series.
None were particularly good but the saffron was so awful that I gagged.
we are off to Paris on the 24th
Have a great trip
please pack me into your suitcase and take me with you to macaron land!....enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI would love macaroon's I think i am going to make myself learn how to make them :)
ReplyDeleteI distinctly recall my first macarron - because my appetite was whetted by a Jeffrey Steingarten article in Vogue - oh about 20 years ago - describing them in tantalizing detail. He included a recipe, which, for reasons I can not fathom, I did not use until about 10 years ago. That's the way it is with me, too busy living (chasing rabbits, baiting traps, etc.) to do all the things on my list, but EVENTUALLY I get around to everything (well if I live to be 143!). That first batch did not turn out well....good flavor but extremely poor texture. Then, a few years ago, on a visit to my son (the jazz saxophonist!) in New York I bought a box of assorted Fauchon maccarons. Heaven! And I can't believe they are gone! Thank you for the web site!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to taste my first macaron. But I shall try my best to make it a memorable event. lol :)
ReplyDeleteI've never had one. I only realized recently that macarons are not macaroons. I have to find a good place to buy them, because I don't know that I'm ready to try making them just yet.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should look for one to celebrate my birthday! ; )
I ate my first macarron ten days ago: a frien brought a little box from Switzerland. Nobody at home knew the name of the sweets but me, becouse I read this lovely blog.
ReplyDeleteThe were cremy, not very sweet, chocolate, coffee, cream and frambois flavour.
Marvelous!!!!!
Oh, yes, I definitely remember! It was Ladurée and chocolate. I started high! :) And really have never managed to adjust my sights lower. When they are good, they are very, very good, but when they are average, they don't do much for me.
ReplyDeleteYay for a new trip to Paris! Can't wait to see what you "bring back" for us!
- the old rustic macaron
ReplyDelete- the new colourful, stuffed Parisian macaron
- the macaron of St jean de luz (Louis XIV's favourite)
- the macaron of Boulay (De Gaulle's best)
- Amiens, Montmorillon, Fontainebleau,Lyon ... and wherelse ???
- the day of Macaron
- the creation of one macaron new flavour
...
Some experts (who create them)
more experts (who eat them)
some books (such as Clémence Boulouque's)
You will learn a lot about MACARONS from this tv program that I watched and enjoyed !!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6bbb_foliemacaron
YES Sarah B
ReplyDeleteI hope to have many more stories about my darling cousin!
Thanks :)
First tastes are so important, I remember my first macaron, beautiful, I thought I had finally grown up! My first avacado was a fine occasion too, a grapefruit hot from the tree and the sun, not my first but the first "real" one...etc, food is like smells, very evocative. Also wonderful pictures. France is sunny, obviously getting its blue skies out just for you!
ReplyDeleteI must admit, I'm lacking an important life experience - I have never had a macaron! But they sure do look good, I mean tasty, and also pretty. Just love the colors.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog and paintings!! I LOVE this post!! I LOVE macarons!! I have posted about them many times! Please stop by my blog sometime.. I will try to locate the posts... I would like to link this post to my most recent macaron post if it's okay... My first macaron was at our local bakery in Antony... It was very delish! But, nothing compares to the macarons from Laduree!! I take all my friends who are visiting to this store! It is a special treat! I am sure you are heading that way when you get to Paris.. They always have great window displays.. There are several scattered through Paris.. I like the Champs d'Elycees store because they also have very beautiful pastries!! Please feel free to email me, if you'd like I live very near to Paris.. and I have a lot of friends that live in Paris, too...
ReplyDeleteTake care, Leesa
I just had my first macaron a few weeks ago, at a French market in Edinburgh. I just had to try them after seeing them on your lovely blog so often. I wrongly thought before I tried them that they looked like the same texture as meringues.
ReplyDeleteI remember it well! it was last winter in Lyon and it was all thanks to the wonderful descriptions from your lovely blog :D
ReplyDelete