Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Melt in your Mouth Macarons

 Macarons have always been a mystery to me. Every food blogger that I love and follow say that macaroons are one of the hardest things to bake. Infact, I have followed Ms. Humble Pie's baking attempts to make atleast 10000 Macarons (making her an expert atleast according to Malcolm Gladwell). In her first attempt she writes
"The first thing that pulls you in is their seductive rainbow of colors. Then you begin to understand the attention required to execute the perfect cookie anatomy: the frilly foot, the delicate egg shell like dome. You get a clear sense of the challenge reading the trials of other bakers and the euphoria of their successes."
Well, I had the pleasure of tasting Macarons tonight at a dinner hosted by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal of a Perfect Bite. I am going to write about the dinner later as it is almost 1 am and this is the last thing I tasted tonight. I dont want to forget how they taste....
Pooja Dhingra of Le 15 Patisserie kindly brought these colorful, delightful melt in your mouth babies over for dessert. One bite and the surface crackles, bursting in your mouth with a soft creamy meringue like interior. The chocolate cream in the center balanced the lovely fruity dome. As soon as you opened the box a sigh escapes to see these delightful babies. I naturally reached for the yellow one as it is my favourite color. Turned out to be a tangy passionfruit. I died. My first bite it crackled, it almost fell apart. As the knife rightly said "These Macarons are the reason why food is occasionally called Orgasmic."

Feast your eyes....
 The yellow ones are passion fruit, the green are pistachio, the cream are caramel and I think the pink ones are chocolate (I could be mistaken).

 Rushina's nephew loving it!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Craving Caramel!

Look at what I just got in my email. Yes yes - in my email.. not the mail. I subscribe to the Godiva newsletter. But I just thought this image was so beautiful! I guess Fall has arrived. Having recently moved to Mumbai, I miss the change of seasons in Chicago. I was just thinking about the fall setting in when I opened this email. It took me back to the brisk cool air, the yellowing trees, the apple cider, the wafting smell of cinnamon, a shot of caramel in your coffee, leather boots, light fall jacket, the perfect coolness and you desire the winter never comes. The fall is the final preparation of the trees to mature and shine in their utmost beauty before they die in the brutal winter. Its a great time to huddle and cuddle in front of a fire at night. A lovely time to eat vegetables such as pumpkins, sweet potatoes, acorn, butternut squash, brussel sprouts. Oh yum!

Alas here in Mumbai, its just two seasons- hot season and rainy season. The rainy season is just over so now starts hot season again. On the bright side custard apple is here!