8.28.2013

A Thought: Macarons

I can't remember the first time I came across this pâtisserie. Even though I was always in the search for the top places to go, things to eat, must have clothes, etc., I was too young and apparently focusing on other things.

Was it a movie? My last visit to Paris? A friend? I can't remember...but one day the term "macaron" came into my life and has been present ever since.

I actually remember on one of my first visits to the UAE, we drove to Dubai to visit the Dubai Mall and there, for the first time ever, I spent a lot of money (at that moment in my life) for a box of macarons from Ladurée. I was so excited that if I think about it now it's actually ridiculous. I think it was the whole concept of Ladurée as a status symbol and not the actual macarons that made me go all crazy about it.

Ladurée pour Unger Hamburg >  buy a tote, get macarons!

But leaving the brand aside, what is it about these round little confections that make them so special? Wherever they are served (and let me clarify that you don't find them everywhere, but mostly in "nicer" places), they always stand out and somehow distinguish themselves from everything else.
Is it the colors? The mixture of textures with the meringue biscuit and the buttercream/ganache filling? Do they make us feel better? Is all of this just my imagination (I hope not...at least I don't think so)?

Can it be that this little pastry has become a symbol of status, sophistication and luxury? That would be a logical explanation to my reaction when I first bought them. It's not as expensive as a watch, a car or a bag, yet it carries the same message. If you ever enter a Ladurée shop, you will see it with you own eyes and understand exactly what I mean.
Note to the reader: this isn't a negative opinion by any means. I love everything about this bakery and continue getting a treat every time I get the chance.

(via SHE Canada)

What I'm actually asking myself is: in an era where more people have access to better and more variety of food, could it be that the macaron is one of the few food items that go hand in hand with status (together with i.e. caviar and foie gras)? Or could it be the fact that one bakery has intensified and upgraded a normal pastry so that we now associate it with status?

What do you think?


An extra pinch of macarons in motion: cute & MAGNIFICENT