Sunday, March 20, 2011

Jour du Macaron - US Style

Today is the day Pierre Herme in Paris has set aside at the International Macaron Day!  In honor of that I will gobble some macarons.  It is rough, but someone must do it.  I made two pilgrimages yesterday so that I could do this today. 

Yesterday was a busy day for me.  First, the ritual "first pedi of the year" which I always do the weekend spring commences (I give my tootsies a rest all winter, no nail polish)  Now, I have purple toes - and I walked around in flip flops all day yesterday! 



Second:  two separate visits to local macaron purveyors.  This is not easy to find in metro Washington DC.  As it happens, one outlet is near my salon, so before I got the pedi I wandered down to the Wine Cabinet and picked up a box of Michel Patisserie macarons. 

Then, off to Patisserie Poupon on Wisconsin Avenue in DC.  I had to park over 8 blocks away which was great as it was a beautiful day (and indeed, yesterday was the last day of winter wasn't it?).  The flowers that are already blooming are a sight to behold.  Magnolia trees, cherry blossoms in all their pink glory, a wide variety of flowers - not merely pansies - I was amazed at how pretty it all was, this last day of winter.  I only bought a few macarons at the Patisserie.  They didn't seem to have the selection that Michel Patisserie had. 



I couldn't wait for today, I scarfed three of the eight yesterday (lemon, coffee, and raspberry).  Today I have five left, and here are some photos.  I also noted that Michel's had a much better presentation.  The little pebbly green one is the one I bought at Patisserie Poupon.  Not the same effect.  Michel's macarons were also much, much better.  Maybe Patisserie Poupon was having an off day but their macarons looked listless and just weren't all that tasty.  The lemon one wasn't bad, but I am not even sure what the green one was.  Not pistachio as I expected (unless it was so faint as to be undetectable).  Not mint either. 

While the Michel macarons are not quite Laduree or Gerard Mulot quality, they are nonetheless very good and a good compromise when you need a quick fix and are not in the middle of a quick weekend in Paris.   See:  http://skywalkerbeth.blogspot.com/2011/01/fueled-by-macarons.html




EDIT:  I just bit into Michel's Passionfruit macaron.  Just as good as the ones in Paris!

6 comments:

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Miam-miam! Wish I was in Paris today to devour a few myself!

Bises,
G

F Cameron said...

Yummy! Love those macarons! We have a dear friend who also loves France and he makes his own macarons. We're off to Paris in April and one of the first stops will be macarons, of course!

Cameron

Stephanie said...

Love the toes!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a lovely day!

Unknown said...

Poupon used to be the only place in DC where you could find macarons (when I first moved here 7 years ago) How things have changed... I was sooo disappointed last time I had their macarons. They were so... artisanal I guess.... the ones I make are better. When The Sweet Lobby opens on the hill we should have a little macaron tweetup and check it out!

Virginia said...

WEll Genie didn't tell this but she makes them herself and I'll put hers up against Ladurée or Gerard Mulot any day. I was interested in the flavors you bought. I stick to caramel and pistache, but I'm not very daring. Maybe I"ll have a passion fruit next visit!
V

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