Of Macaroons, Memories and Missed Opportunity

I know I must have had my camera with me this morning.  Obviously, what I didn’t have was my with-it-ness because I missed a great photo op.  I was, as I usually am on summer Saturday mornings, at the Lyme Farmers Market.  I had just bought swordfish, Littleneck clams and a lobster (what a treat!) and was surveying the lines at the other stands, deciding on my next move, when Carol Dahlke came walking across the fields, headed in my direction.  Carol is due to give birth to Baby James any day now, so she usually leads with her belly, but today she led with an object I recognized immediately: a red and white box from Pierre Herme!

Carol’s parents had just returned from Paris bringing with them macaroons – lots of them.  And there was Carol, the box in one hand, the PH cheatsheet in the other, trying to decide between Ispahan and Satine and giving up (or giving in) and having them both!

I chose a classic coffee macaroon and ate it standing in the middle of the field looking out at the white market tents, the Saturday shoppers in shorts and flip-flops, the kids racing around and the horses grazing beyond the stone wall, and I just couldn’t get my bearings.  My feet were planted in the solid soil of New England, but with each bite my mind traveled further and further away until I could see myself leaving Pierre’s shop on the rue Bonaparte and walking toward my apartment.  I could see Place Saint-Germain-des-Pres stretching in front of me and I might even have heard the church bells chime if Michael hadn’t tugged on my sleeve to ask if I needed garlic. 

We all talk about that passage in In Search of Lost Time, the one in which Marcel Proust writes about how a bite of a madeleine transported him to another time and another place, but today I lived it. 

It was a wonderful moment, but a strange one, too.  I had trouble reconciling the meticulous construction, the flavor, the fragrance, even the spirit of Pierre’s macaroon with the setting.  The macaroon was so Parisian, what was it doing in Connecticut?  On the farm?  Would there have been this disparity for me if I’d never before tasted a PH macaroon?  Would I have enjoyed it less because I was missing a context?  Would I have relished it more because it would have been an initiation?  And why should food have a place?  Wouldn’t I be just as happy having caviar by a campfire as I would be eating it from a mother-of-pearl spoon in a grand chateau? 

Who would have thought one little bonbon could cause such confusion?  I know, I know - Proust!

Comments

[colleen guidone]

dear ms.greenspan,
my daughter is going to france next week and macaroons are what i asked her for... as an intern at a bakery i have tried to make my own and i still need work. i am so glad to know you have a blog, i live in clinton and admire your books alot.you are an inspiration!!! thank you,colleen

[ParisBreakfasts]

What an amazing and discombobulating experience. I've never thought to bring macarons home..
Do I dare ?
You were brave.

[Dorie]

Oh dear -- I wrote a loooooooooooong answer to almost everyone's comments and then I don't know what I did with it! When I opened this comment box this morning, I thought I was up-to-date and would just answer the last comment... I guess I hit the "delete" button too quickly last week. Sorry. Well, here goes -- again.

Casey, with each of your comments I realize how many things we have in common: ah, Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

Brilynn, I couldn't agree with you more -- everything tastes better when it's shared with people you love.

Jo-Jo, that's an interesting idea about a food -- or really anything -- transcending its surroundings. In the case of the macaroon-on-the-farm, it was a clash of two wonderful things - the farm and the macaroon: - both special in their own right, but so at odds with each other.

Jenny, thank you for "getting it."

Terri, I don't know you, but I can imagine the swoon-to-the-kitchen-floor upon tasting a rose macaroon. Pierre Herme was the first to do a rose macaroon and now everyone's got them and it's a good thing: for reasons beyond my understanding, rose seems to make a perfect macaroon!

Shaunna, There is a recipe for making chocolate macaroons in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. It took me so long and so many tests to get that recipe right, that when I wrote Paris Sweets, I wrote that macaroons were better bought than made at home. Then, I was proved wrong many times over: I saw so many bloggers baking macaroons -- and baking them perfectly -- on the first try! The pictures and comments are inspiring. I may eventually get to do a post on making macaroons at home, but in the meantime, take a look at www.egullet.com in the pastry and baking forum and look at the blogs of some of the members of the Daring Bakers. I think you'll be excited by what you see.

Flavia, what a lovely image of you and your Parisian granny. Aren't we lucky to have these touchstones that can help us remember sweet times.

Maria, thanks -- the macaroon picture is one I took a while ago at Pierre Herme's shop on the rue Bonaparte. So glad you liked the cookies and ice cream -- is there a better combination in the world?

Estelle, I bet there are places that you get to go to and foods that you get to eat, that would make me envious. And, from what you said about being able to relate to something that sends your senses soaring, I'm certain that you find pleasure in everything that you do.

Ruth, I think you're in for a treat. I worked with Norman Love many years ago, when I wrote Baking with Julia - he is VERY talented and a great teacher. Can't wait to hear about your class.

Julie, many, many thanks for the information about www.worldmarket.com. Sadly, for me, there isn't a World Market close to where I live, but it's great to know about it. And how lucky for you -- isn't it wonderful when you can find something you really like and when that food can help you hold on to the memory of a good time.

Alice, merci. I hope to see you in St. Germain tres bientot.

Janice, I absolutely love the picture you painted of a woman leisurely feeding asparagus to her Great Dane. Beautifully described. Thank you!

Jill, Florian Bellanger, who worked with Pierre Herme in Paris, came to New York to be the pastry chef at Le Bernardin, then became the executive pastry chef for Fauchon in New York, started a company called MadMac, "mad" for madeleines and "mac" for macarons. He has a website: www.madmacnyc.com. When you click to order, you're sent to another website, which seems to be the one from which you can buy the macarons:
http://www.lepicerie.com/catalog/category_290_PASTRY_MADMAC__Madeleines__Macarons_page_1.html (or go to:
www.lepicerie.com and click on madmac) Hope this helps.

[Jill]

I am kicking myself that I didn't even know what a macaron was when I was in Paris some years ago. Do you know of any site where I could order them online?

[janice cartier]

Ohh, thank you! I needed that image this am. Food, and scent are supposedly our most long lasting memories, most firmly imprinted. I can be back at Harry's Bar in a heartbeat if I even catch one whiff of veal aux morelles. Our table neighbor was an elegant, private woman feeding her black great dane asparagus leisurely from her plate that evening. Venice in the evening. I can taste it still. See the plate, want just a little more... What a great moment to share with us. Thank you again. I must get to PH, this master of macaroons.

[alice]

Je t'envoie plein de belles pensées de la place Saint Germain, just bought myself the macaroon box from Ladurée with the ladybugs on it!
lots of love xxx

[Julie LEBLANC]

Dorrie: Gorgeous photo of maccaroons! You have mentioned in the past the search for quality products stateside - I reference the sardines. I dont know if you know the store www.worldmarket.com? I found anchovy filets in a tin with olive oil for $1.59 today by the brand Roland. Not to mention other delights; English, French, Indian, Italian canned, packaged goods - olives, biscuits, cookies, coffee, pastas et al. The EL SERPIS olives that I loved and bought everytime at the Bon Marche, I found them here at this store finally - after years of searching! I dont know if they have them in the NY area, I found this store upon moving to DC but am thrilled - wanted to share this.

Enjoy September in Paris!

[ruthwells]

Now I feel like making macarons....

Did I tell you that I'm taking a course at the French Pastry Institute next week? Chef Norman Love is teaching a 3-day seminar on entremets and chocolates. I am wild with excitement!

[Estelle]

I'm feeling a bit green at the moment as I have never had the pleasure of tasting one of those sumptuous Macaroons and don't know that I ever will. I can relate though to tasting something that sends your senses soaring.

[Maria]

Great macaroon photo! I am sure you felt out of place eating it outside of Paris...but a macaroon anywhere is a good thing:)

I made your vanilla ice cream and chocolate chunkers over the weekend. You did it again Dorie! I am in love with all of your recipes! The cookies are so rich and so worth it:) Thanks!

[Flavia]

The power of the madeleine is to make us think of days long gone. And it really can be anything. For me, the orange tartelette from Lenotre that my parisian granny use to buy , are it. It is not the flavor really that Mr Proust missed. It is the memories of his youth. When the delicate orange flavor of the pastry cream hits me, it trancends anything: I'm back in my granny kitchen with a nice cup of tea and endless hours of chit-chat in front of us...

[Shauna]

Dorie,

As a relatively new lover of "Parisian" macarons (in quotes because I've only had them at Los Angeles-area bakeries, blasphemy!), I've become enthralled with not only their flavor and texture, but their long history and the passion required for making a perfect macaron. Someday I will attempt this myself, but while I'm in the intelligence-gathering process...do you plan on posting about making them yourself in the near future? I hope so. :)

Love your blog,

Shauna

[Terri]

Dorie - I had the same experience as you this weekend, feeling perfectly at home, ensconced in my kitchen in San Francisco having tea with my friend Kat, who just returned from Paris on Thursday... bearing gifts from that Beautiful City: Macarons from Laduree! She said she couldn't go back to Herme after buying boxes and boxes of them for us back in June to take back home so we enjoyed the next best thing. I think I almost fell out of my chair right onto the kitchen floor as I savored the rose macaron.
Kat is back now and ultra-sad that she's left Paris. Her family is glad she's home again, I'm glad to have her company again and she's looking forward to finding work soon. I think she'll be visiting NY in October, trailing at a few shops to find her feet...
Thanks again Dorie!

[Jenny]

I understand. And I've never been to Paris or enjoyed a PH macaroon - yet I understand.

[jo jo]

it goes to show the power of the best rendition of any food. it transcends any surroundings. as i've said before when i wrote about PH macarons, proust can keep his madeleines! i prefer the master's macarons ... so much tastier. .....

[brilynn]

Lovely writing as always Dorie. I think context plays a huge role in all of our eating experiences. A simple meal can be elevated to an amazing experience based on our company and location.

[Casey]

A beautiful post. Any sensory experience that transports me back to the area around St. Germain is always welcome--but one that tastes sublime surely ranks at the top of the list.