Two discs of almond meringue enclosing a creamy ganache.
Raise your hand if you can resist the colorful temptation of a macaron... Nobody, right?
This pastry jewel, always attributed to France, has a long and surprisingly Neapolitan history. Are you ready to discover it?
The history of macarons is closely linked to that of a typical Italian pastry biscuit, which resembles it both in flavor and shape: the amaretto .
The term "macaron" was in fact initially used by the French to indicate the amaretto, exported by Catherine de Medici , wife of the French Duke Henry II... who will certainly have appreciated its wealth of gastronomic culture!
A few centuries later, in the historic French confectionery company Ladurée , a grandson of the founder was the first to have the intuition to transform the macaron from a single disk into two disks joined in the middle by a raspberry ganache. (Notice the resemblance to the macaroons in the photo, right?)
For several years to come, the macaron was always and only the same, without the variety that today leaves us with our noses glued to the windows of pastry shops, trying to guess which combinations of flavors are hidden behind that irresistible rainbow of colors to which we are accustomed . ?
It was only a few decades ago, in fact, that the macaron took on the appearance we know now, thanks to the intuition of the pastry chef Pierre Hermè who, having come to work in Ladurée, created a thousand variations.
Any examples?
Salted butter caramel, rose, lichi and raspberry or the iconic two-tone mandarin and olive oil by Hermè , which opened its namesake maison at the beginning of 2000.
Curiosity ✨
Some restaurants have proposed the macaron in a savory way , with prawn or liver ganache and pigeon innards or, again, with cocoa bean gruè discs.
At this point, you might feel like running to the pastry shop! However, if, in addition to enjoying macarons, you would also like to learn how to prepare them, know that we have the perfect course for you.
Basics of Pastry Making course for adults is held on Monday evenings starting at 8.00 pm and lasts 3 hours. By taking part in the " Macarons and ganache " event you will discover all the secrets to making these irresistible French desserts and the fillings to offer them in a thousand variations of flavor and colour.
May Pierre Hermè be with you!
