Pain de Sucre :: Pistache-Griotte Macaron
By Paris Pâtisseries in Pain de Sucre, Pastry Reviews
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Now a little more than a month into my pastry adventures, I’m realizing the unhealthy relationship these sweet treats and I have developed. For it seems that, despite religiously taking my vitamins every day, man cannot subsist on sugar, chocolate and crème patissiere alone. While I started out April, ready each morning to walk to the far reaches to Paris, I now awake to a feeling of languid sluggishness – prepared to go right back to sleep. The idea of even walking 30 minutes, much less 2 hours, seems like a bit of a chore. And that reduction in aerobic effort makes burning 3000+ calories a major challenge, so I’m starting to gain weight. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the pastries were trying to “push me away”. But, if that’s the case, I’d rather live in denial. The pastries love me, and I love them. There can be no other way! The physical toll they’ve been taking on yours truly is just an unfortunate by-product and but a small hurdle to be overcome in our relationship. We’re going to make it through this . . . together.
When I do muster the energy to trek out of the 6th or 7th arrondissments, I’m particularly keen on swinging by Pain de Sucre (and the nearby Jacques Genin). They always seem to have a new pastry in the case, and they’re also home to some of my favorite macarons in the universe. You all know I think their macaron caramel au beurre salé is a work of God, but one of the other gems – and the first macaron I ever had from Pain de Sucre – is their Macaron Pistache-Griotte.
I’ve had this pistachio cherry wonder so many times that all I need to do is reflect on it for a second, and it’s cakey delights come springing back to mind. Yes, cakey. The Italian meringue shells, as you’ll see in some of the photos below, have a curious texture unlike most any other mac in the city. They’re veritably more madeleine than macaron. Not that I’m complaining. And then of course there’s that fairly firm, thick, sweet, heavily pistache-perfumed pistachio crème sandwiched between those almond gât’ingue (gâteau + meringue) lobes. Accented with wee bits and kicks of cherry in the mac shells, the net effect is a moderately assaultive foray into a nutty-fruity wonderland, where you feel compelled to enjoy these little ones by the half-dozen. To consume less would be masochistic.
Pain de Sucre actually has a triad of macaron greats, in my mind. Caramel, today’s pistache-griotte, and their menthe. But their elder flower macs and even their goat cheese macarons are ones that I will need to trot out for you, in time.
See what I mean about the cakey interior here? I love how there are a few shops that have a unique approach. Get a macaron from each of the following, and the texture of one will be completely different from the next: Pierre Hermé, Ladurée, Pain de Sucre, Un Dimanche a Paris. The shells have almost nothing in common.
So, yes, do grab a Macaron Pistache-Griotte from our friends at Pain de Sucre. Or, as advised, perhaps snag a half-dozen. But remember that macarons are kept refrigerated by all the shops, so you must wait at least 30 minutes to eat them – or, better yet, 1-2 hours. That’s when they’ve reached room temperature and will taste their best.
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