Holy Moly Macaron Day

I've had my head buried in books and in my house for a while now, so imagine my surprise and excitement when my sister forwarded me a link to the first annual Macaron Day 2010! Apparently, the day was started 5 years ago by Pierre Hermé, another wizard of macarons in Paris (sadly, I was so in love with Laduree while I was in Paris that I did not even consider Pierre Hermé.) Francois Payard, the French pastry & dessert king, is now carrying the torch in the U.S.!



In honor of Macaron Day today, more than two handful of bakeries are offering one free macaron per customer. The list includes all the macaron heavy weights such as:

• Bouchon (average to good macarons in my opinion),
• Payard (very good macarons...probably haven't changed since the original Payard Patisserie & Bistro had sadly closed),
• La Maison du Chocolat (a different kind of macaron),
• Macaron Cafe (very good macarons but I have yet to blog about them),
• Almondine (I've heard a lot about their macarons but have yet to try),
• Madeleine Patisserie (not recommended), and more.

You will definitely find this macaron fanatic in Macaron Day 2010! I am sad though, to think that the growing popularity of macarons in the U.S. might make them less special in my eyes (ala law of diminishing return). A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted how these babies have gotten very popular, so much that even McDonald's in Paris are offering macarons now and even Starbucks in the U.S. have offered them during the holidays. Word had it too that Trader Joe's is now selling frozen macarons. Sigh.

Although I am worried, I do believe that there are true macaron fans out there who have tasted the real, authentic macarons from France and know how to spot the bad ones here in the States. I just hope macarons won't turn into what Chinese food have turned into in the U.S. - that it adapts to the American taste buds and loses its authenticity.


See past macaron posts here:
I LOVE Macarons
Financier
Look What I Got My Hands on?
Bouchon Bakery
Payard