Pierre Hermé macarons (Spring 2007)

"Oh please! Spare us, Brett. Macarons? That is so 2006," cry those food bloggers who just last year wrote about the macarons from the legendary Parisian pâtisserie, Pierre Hermé.

The veterans protest: "2006? People, we blogged about PH macarons way back in '05 (even '04!)."

Too bad. Add one more blogger's post and mouth-watering photos to the long list. This time it comes from the same blogger (me) who once left a comment vowing to boycott further posts on the topic on the grounds that such descriptions and their accompanying pornographic photos were too "deliciously cruel."

Call this photo set my revenge.

"So, Brett, what did you think?" you ask to be polite, suppressing your yawn.

Here's my take. (This is the part where I get in trouble).

Macarons are to Paris what cupcakes are to America. Like cupcakes, they're ubiquitous. Also like cupcakes, they're as irresistibly cute as baby chicks and as colorful as a bouquet of tulips. You just wanna squeeze their little cheeks and say "aawwwww." The main difference is that, instead of being smeared on top of cake, the buttercream frosting is squished between two sugary meringue buns, like a hamburger re-imagined by Oompa-Loompas.

Don't get me wrong. I like cupcakes. Even the sickly sweet ones sold at NYC's Magnolia Bakery. On occasion. Like once every year or two.

And I liked Pierre Hermé's macarons. At least some of the flavors. Whenever the master pâtissier added a healthy dose of bitterness to the cookies' buttercream filling, I was in heaven. Café, Chocolat, Caramel à la Fleur de Sel, even Huile d'Olive & Vanille (olive oil and vanilla) all made my tongue smile. I could gobble them up all day long. But the rest, brilliant and creative and sexy as the flavors were, made my teeth ache.

Did I say sexy? You bet. Check out the names PH has bestowed on the petite sweet nothings in his "spring collection." They're the strippers of the pastry shop: Jasmin, Rose, Arabesque (apricot and pistachio), Mogador (passion fruit and milk chocolate), Mosaïc (pistachio and cherry), and Ispahan (litchi, rose, and raspberry). Next month, Céleste (passion fruit, rhubarb, and strawberry) and Satine (cream cheese, orange, and passion fruit) will be joining them on stage. Rrrrowrr! Tell me you're not perspiring!

In my opinion, though, the reality of these sugar pills didn't live up to the promise of their fantasy names. But ain't that always the case?

So tell me, did I miss something? I mean, I like rosy, girly desserts more than your average feller. Were my expectations for the PH macarons too high? Is there a context for consuming these treats that's unknown to me? Am I just too much of a grease-stained, restaurant kitchen hot-line hillbilly to get what the fuss is all about over these gussied up French macaroons?

Food|and Drink|Paris|Pierre Herme|Macarons

Comments

[Pim]

2005??

Try 2003!!!

You think so little of me. ;-)

Gorgeous photos, by the way. And, no, I don't think you missed any secret, it's a case of chacun son goût I suppose. There's nothing wrong with it, just more for me. Yay!

xx
P

[Tea]

Gorgeous photos, your revenge is sweet.

I like the bitter notes as well, the others remind of the super sweet Japanese cakes/cookies that are designed to be eaten with bitter green tea to offset the sugar onslaught.

But oh they are pretty.

[roboppy]

Ohh if only I had gotten to Paris sooner, I could've been blogging about them yeeears ago! [sob]

The blogging of PH macarons shall live on forever because they are so awesome. So thank you for adding to the delicious cruelness that is making me...stare at my monitor and feel very sad that I'm not in Paris.

For me the awesomeness of PH macarons was full of overbearing joy because I had eaten so many mediocre/bad ones beforehand. And I suppose I ate lots of good ones, but none of them tasted as good as PH! WAAAH!!!

[umami]

I ate my first macaron in 1998(blogs were unheard of then, obviously) sitting in the upstairs salon of the Laduree in Madeleine. It was something lemony, and I loved it. I loved even more eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table between a middle aged businessman and his impressively cleavaged, younger female companion. We poured tea from silver pots as we listen to him offering to help her with her money woes.

Fast forward to 2007- we are living in Paris but the allure of the macaron is lost to us. I don't dislike them, but neither do I crave or adore. Granted some of the flavours are quite interesting, if pressed I would not refuse salted caramel ones.

We've even went back to the same salon and ordered the very same macaron- it was too sweet, too tart, too bleh. The conversation around us was not as titillating, the atmosphere not quite as sophisticated anymore. Oh well...

[cookiecrumb]

Ha ha. "Cupcakes."
Rrowr!!!

[matt]

ah, so beautiful!

[Jennifer Jeffrey]

Cute as baby chicks! Awww. Those are mighty pretty pictures. I can usually eat one or two before the sweet overload kicks in.

I'm dying to try the olive oil & vanilla one!

[shuna fish lydon]

I think that even if I had a blog while working at The French Laundry (in 1997) I would not have blogged about the French macaron (not macaroon) because they were the bain of my existance. And we were merely making the traditional ones!

During my last trip to Paris I, too, noticed how very sweet they were. But so is any meringue based confection, as it is just sugar and egg whites with a bit of almond meal binder.

But sexy they are. There is no doubt about their power to seduce. Especially when dusted in effervescent faeirie dust and filled with hidden cherries and foie gras!

Mmmmmmmm I can hear their sirenic lullaby now...

[Byunghoon Kim]

Cute photos & funny story! :)

[Tana]

From your description, I don't think they would be my cup of tea, either. I don't like things that are too sweet, and buttercream frosting is, well, nothing I ever crave. It's like milk chocolate: for babies!

: D

I'm always happy when I am free of envy. I don't envy anyone eating macarons, no matter how prettily they are colored. (Pretty photos, though!)

[Hande]

Just the more for me!
Seriously, I wonder why you didn't fell in love with them. Hubby and I are normally not sweet teeth and we like only bitter chocolate, but macarons somehow did it for us. We don't find them too sweet. And I always thought the American palate is used to more sugar than the European. There are so many dissappointing macarons, PH is for me heavensent. I really have cravings for them. Like, right now.
But as said, it is a good thing that not everyone has the same taste!

[jessica]

strippers of the pastry shop ...i like that! I hate these things, and I find the colors kind of offending, but your photos, not at all. they're very well done and nice sharpening.

[Daslin]

Great pictures, great thread.

Before I ever tasted one, I too thought the colors garish and the flavors likely too sweet. Then I tasted the macarons at Pamplemousse in Redwood City and was converted big time! I haven't had the chance to compare with PH, but check out Pamplemousse next time you're in the Bay Area...

[Bunny]

Now to find a way to get to Paris! Those pics *are* deliciously cruel!