Where can you find the best macarons in Paris? Don't ask me. But I do know that no
visit to Paris is complete, for even the casual confectionery enthusiast,
without stops at Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. Naturally we had to conduct a
highly-scientific (not) experiment to determine which of the two served up the better
sandwich cookie.
Ladurée
The Ladurée tea salon along the Champs-Elysées was closed for
construction, but its retail store across the way offered plenty of "kawai"
for the giggling Japanese 20-somethings who mobbed the place,
right down to the cheery box of Hello Kitty macarons.
My husband and I selected a salted caramel and chocolate macaron respectively (no surprise there.)
Flawless "feet."
Nary a blemish in sight.
Well-rested, not too much
"chew."
Delectable.
75 Champs-Elysées
On the Web at: http://www.laduree.fr/
(also in New York at 864 Madison Avenue)
Pierre Hermé
The Pierre Hermé space was starkly different from Ladurée - less saccharine sweetness, more modern luxury, and a menu of less-traditional flavors. The macarons were also aesthetically edigier than their Ladurée counterparts, their shiny shells mottled with cocoa powder and gold leaf, or pearlized with luster dust.
We went for the salted caramel again (to add a measure of control to our
precision-based research, of course) which hurt my teeth. It may have been a
too-sticky-for-my-taste filling, or maybe it needed another night in the
chiller. I'm can’t be sure, I ate it too fast.
For our second choice, we stepped outside our caramel comfort zone and picked something from the Jardin Enchanté collection - a half rose, half jasmine concoction, which I thought might have been one too many flowers.
Despite this, I’d say the results of this fun little face-off were inconclusive. Maybe there were some flaws in the methodology (ya think?) The sample size was definitely too small. Alas, further research is needed.
72 rue Bonaparte (and 6 other locations in Paris)
On the web at: http://www.pierreherme.com/
Side note: I made macarons and so can you. Read this post.
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