Macaron Parlour - May 7, 2011

Eating is the quintessential sensual experience because it simultaneously engages the five senses: the visual, the gustatory, the olfactory, the tactile and the auditory– and perhaps, even the sixth. The audition is more often than not ignored and forgotten, and yet, it is important, albeit not as crucial, perception in terms of the action called eating. Imagine, if you will, the sonic pleasure of a barbeque, hearing the meat, searing shut its juice, on the hot iron or of a fish being grilled directly on an open fire, dripping and sizzling globulets of fat onto the wood: How the pleasure of anticipation would pale, if it were not accompanied by and accentuated by the sound. Indeed, why do you think movies are filled with music? Sometimes, a sound – i.e. the miniscule shatter of a macaron shell – is so small and private that it is almost secretive, which binds the eater to the food by sharing in this little secret rite of sound.

It is difficult for even one element, which corresponds to one perception, to be perfect; but for all the elements, which as felt by the five senses, to be perfect at the same moment, such sheer perfection seems at most abstract and near impossibility in this imperfect world, although I can just barely conceive such true perfection. At least, the more attainable perfection I can conceive is a small round disk of crumbling delicacy, filled with the sweet nectar of flavor – a macaron.* A macaron is simple: sugar, almond meal and egg whites, sandwiching ganache, butter cream or jam. Thus, for its simplicity, a perfect macaron is comparatively more achievable for us, the fallible humans.

*Emotionally, I would like to believe in the ontological argument, but intellectually, and more empirically, I must join the league of Gaunilo, Kant and Aquinas in opposing this silly argument.

Bottega Falai (Macarons) - April 27, 2011

Mr. Falai is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, when it comes to macarons.

Bouchon Bakery - March 24, 2011

This must be a joke played on the King’s New Clothes Syndrome.

Bisous Ciao - October 16, 2010

Macarons at Bisous Ciao

My favorite flavor of macarons is, without doubt, the rose.  Imagine your mouth filled with the delicate, intoxicating, and utterly irresistible perfume of rose; when I recall the rose macarons at Pierre Hermé or Chez Matsuo (a frequent dessert item, but not always available unless you tell them that is what you want in advance), even the memory of them transports me to the Neverland of rose macarons that I do not ever want to leave.  I was so excited when I found Pierre Hermé in Tokyo; sadly, however, the made-in-Japan Ispahan was such a disappointment - plain, flavorless; it was just a pink, wet and crumbly mess. I wonder if the recipe is altered to suit the Japanese palette, assuming that the chef in Japan is more than capable.  Or is it simply that rose flavor is difficult to perfect? So far every single rose macaron in New York has turned to be more than bearably disgusting that I had not so far managed to consume more than one-fourth of it; to be honest, had my mouth been smaller, I would have eaten even less. Therefore, I stood with much apprehension in front of the minimalist counter at Bisous Ciao:  To get rose or to not get rose, that is the question.  Ever the hopeful, I ventured to order one rose macaron:  Yes, I have finally learned not to get carried away and order multiple macarons after staring at many forlorn bags of half-bitten and undesirable macarons.  

MacarOn - October 13, 2010

Trying out a new macaron is very similar to a first date: You think about it, you adore it, you dream about it, then you approach it and you finally get to taste it.  And sadly as it is with a first date, it often does not lead to a second date.

Financier (The bigger one downtown) - July 1, 2010

Macarons at Financier, where should I begin? Should I begin by lamenting that they came closer than others or how they missed it at the end?

One day, I will write a treatise on macarons, but for now suffice it to say (and just take my words for it) that Pierre Herme has the best flavor (rose, apricot-saffron or olive-vanilla, who would have thought?) if the texture is a bit on the softer side, Sadaharu Aoki gets the texture right with the golden ratio of crispness, chewiness and meltiness (I am told by Merriam-Webster that this is not a word, but I say it is) with some distinctly Asian flavors (sesame, genmaicha, delicious, but wasabi...it is hard to be perfect), and last but not least, the temple of macarons, Laduree, with sweeter and denser texture, which I would leave it for you to decide.

At Financier, mind you, I only tried the big macarons, but the texture is erratic. Coconut-Passion fruit had decent passion fruit flavor, which got me excited for a moment before the hell broke loose. The texture was close to the crumbling Herme, but that was the problem. Due to its size (bigger is not always better), once it started to crumble, there was no stopping it. Oh, did I mention the flavor was "coconut"-passion fruit? Sorry, I misspoke. The coconut was mere decoration or how can it be so tasteless?

Now the pistachio, one word - tough. These khaki-colored tough soldiers will surely survive very well in the army. I dropped it, by accident (stress, by accident), but it did not make a dent. Maybe I can wear it as a hard hat in case I need one, huh?

OK, enough said. Next please!

Georgia's - June 28, 2010

My raspberry and apricot macarons...aren't they lovely? Don't they make your mouth water and crave for the crunchy and chewy exterior? Can't you feel the burst of intense flavor awaiting you?

Well, looks can be deceiving, and in this case, they are indeed deceiving. As everything else in life, don't trust just the looks. Smell it, hold it, bite it, and taste it. What do we have then? Another failed attempt at macaron. This macaron is chewy for sure. You chew and chew and chew without getting to the reward - which flavors did I get again? (Check the colors - pink and yellow.) Right, raspberry and apricot they were supposed to be, but were not. If I close my eyes, all that was in my mouth was a pile of sugary chewed mass of a mess. Next, please!