Friday, September 23, 2011

LADUREE - French macarons

Hands down, Laduree for me has the best macaron.  These are macarons - not macaROONS.  A macaron is made of egg whites.  They are like 2 delicately baked cookies that are crispy outside and moist inside.  Each cookie (the macaron) are put together like a sandwich with a delectable filling in between them.

It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from France’s southwest, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris.

These small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, are the most famous creation of Ladurée.

The story of the Ladurée macaron starts with Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 20th century first thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling.

Many have created macarons which I have tried in the last 25 years.  There have been some macarons I've tried from New York, Tokyo, and Manila too besides other states.  If I don't have a Laduree macaron, some macarons have met my expectations.  In fact, I liked the bacon macaron at Hester Street Market which I featured earlier this year.

But Laduree is special - after all, they are the ORIGINAL creators of the macarons.  I was glad to go there when they first opened.  The line was very long and they kept the doors open past their closing hours.  Locals were puzzled of the line.  I heard one man comment that it was silly to line up for a 'candy'.

Here's what the new and first Laduree shop in New York City (and the US for that matter) looks like:
 The colors of the Laduree macarons are very vivid like jewels.  Their flavor is intensive as well.  They do have featured flavors.  And for their openning 3rd week of August, they featured green apple.  I must say, it was my favorite and most differentiating flavor of all the macarons I've tasted compared to others.

Currently, Laduree flies their macaron over the day they are made.  As soon as they find a place to make them, they are freshly flown from Paris.












The macaron sample in the window
I love desserts.  These are made of eggwhite and they are small.  I do think a serving of one or two is a perfect size for a dessert.

Don't forget though, you must consume them in a day or two or they'd get pretty dry and hard.  You can store them in the freezer if you decide to buy quite a few in your visit!  Make sure you keep them in their box (no need for the fancy ones if it's for yourself) in a freezer plastic bag to keep them fresh.  But don't keep them in the freezer too long - (just like anything else).

LADUREE SHOP is located:
864 Madison Avenue
New York City, NY
Between 70th and 71st streets on the west side of the street
http://www.laduree.fr/en/maisons/monde-details

1 comment:

Savorique said...

Laduree macarons rule! The first French macaron was in chocolate. And I think it's still my favorite. In general, I prefer them with a creamy center rather than a fruity jam filling.
I wonder how the macarons from Manila were...