Macaron (not Macaroon!)

On my most recent visit to New York City I happened upon the quaint little Macaron Cafe on the Upper East side, a stylish café featuring, what else, the macaron. This French pastry, once found only in Paris and the occasional upscale bridal luncheon, is coming into fashion in the American culinary scene. For me it raises the question: when is food "in style" and how does it become so? Like the fashion industry, the culinary world sees trends rise and fall over time (see my post "Dinner at the Plaza", which comments on the rise of simple comfort classics served at galas in response to the recession: http://princess-peach-kitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/dinner-at-plaza.html) - apparently this year chicken pot pie was all the rage at Paris and New York fashion weeks, celebrating down-home comfort food as the preferred menu of the nouveau riche ... who saw that coming? But food need not be stylish to be in style.

Now the macaron, like so many of the recent popular food trends to arise in the last decade, has a decidedly feminine flair. When the Cupcake Movement, as I like to call it, moved from New York City's Magnolia Bakery across the country like wildfire, with cutsie little cupcake shops sprouting up all over cities like daisies, one couldn't help but identify this genre as "chick food." What does this say about market trends, you ask, other than that apparently many teenage girls and doting mothers are willing to spend $5 on a small but pristine sugar cup? To me it signifies that the concept that "food is art" is back in style, the notion that food's beauty conveys a greater reflection, a whole eating experience. The stateside growing interest in macarons follows suit, as the puffy little morsels traditionally made from almond flour. with creamy fillings, are as fussy as they sound - not the easy-to-make confections found in your average American kitchen, the macaron is real edible art. Now straying from the traditional chocolate/vanilla/etc. flavors, pâtissiers are creating macarons of all colors of the rainbow, from fruity, florals, to bright green pistachio. At Macaron Cafe I saw every flavor from the classic raspberry (homemade preserves in the center, of course) to passion fruit, coconut, and cassis. I went for the espresso.

In my mind, the perfect way to enjoy a macaron is with a frothy cappuccino, to bite into the fluffy little sugar pillows joined by heavenly buttercream, ganache, or jam-filled centers, to let the light texture slowly dissolve on your tongue, and to dip the next half into the cappuccino foam, soaking in to the delicate sweetness. Macarons are made to be bite-sized delights but it can take me many nibbles to devour this elegant "cookie" - I highly recommend you visit the cafe and splurge on one to enjoy this experience for yourself. Just don't buy a whole box to take home ... I can assure you they'll be gone before you get there.