Macarons

Okay, I've had macarons since last year, basically since Lindt cafe wujud di Chadstone mall. Initially aku cam so-so je coz hmmm slalunye aku tak brapa minat dgn desserts & they tasted super sweet. Like alwiz aku suka sweet stuff kalau kuih-muih tradisional & fruits je :P

Anyways, demam MasterChef Australia sejak beberapa bulan lalu. Ever since this Macaron Tower with Kalamata Olive- Beetroot Macarons & Raspberry Macarons by Adriano Zumbo (ada gaya-gaya penyangak sket2.. hehehhe.. tak caya cuba Google image mamat ni) appeared on MasterChef the other week, terasa cam berminat plak nak re-explore this confection.

What is a macaron? Well, kalau Google it & baca sana-sini, its basically a delicacy made of 2 soft shells put together with a cream,jam,butter,etc in between. Asalnye dari France or Italy beratus-ratus tahun dahulu, ikut mana u guys baca kat Google tu. Comes in many flavours & growing.

Dari segi physical: A good macaron should have shiny smooth shells that dont easily break & bukan menggerutu je or bila pegang hancus, evenly round, stick with each other nicely & the centre should be the right volume, consistency, tak rupa hangus, etc. And when u see them, terus tergerak hati nak ngap satu or more.
Apa rasa dia? A good macaron rasa dia should be like this: Soft crispy outer shells, when u reach to the centre of the shells it should be a little chewy but doesnt stick to ur teeth. The shells should just melt in ur mounth, with the flavours balancing each other once u get to the centre layer of either cream, jam, butter, etc in between the shells. Rasa dia.. waaa.. sangatlah bahagianye. Memang sedap.
(Tapi jangan gelojoh makan byk2.. risiko muah/jemu, dan juga risiko diabetes, sakit gigi, gemoks, blablablaba)

Hujung minggu lepas hubby & I went to hunt for macarons, well, mana lagi kat Lindt cafe la. We each got 7 biji each.

Last week punya.. abis hari tu jugak.
Yang tak beli cuma champagne flavour (haram!)

Today in the theatre, the ENT registrar brought in some macarons for her team. I obviously didnt have it coz I bukan her team. Tapi kitorang tetiba cakap pasal food & terkeluar topic macarons. Dia cakap la dia suka gila macarons kat Lindt cafe tu. Cool! Her intern ckp kat aku yg dia bawak macarons siang tadi. Aparently Lindt is not the only cafe that sells macarons, banyak lagi kat Melbourne ni rupanya. Bila dah sumer ckp pasal macarons.. wah, seb baik tak melimpah kuar je aku nyer air liur yg terproduced lebih sket dari awal diorang ckp pasal food. Hehehehe.. So apa lagi.. off I went to Chadstone after work. Aku mintak the salesperson kasi aku yg tak pecah-pecah hokay, coz aku perasan ada yg dah crack cam apa je.. (I expect the best, yo!).

Terbeli skali dark choc shortbread tu.. mebbie sebab beli masa lapar.
8 biji je mampu beli, lagi 2 biji (rosalia, coconut) tak muat kotak.

Abis jugak la duit aku.. tapi mak aku cakap, kalau pasal makanan tak baik kedekut, nanti kempunan.. tak elok la kan..

Hmm... semua ni in Au$. Kalau tetiap minggu beli macarons,
lama-lama botak tabung aku.

Bila tengok MasterChef itu hari, rasa cam senang je nak buat. Aku ada jumpa this macarons recipe book kat Borders some time ago.. katanya kena ada skill kalau tak, memang tak jadi. Well, sama mcm masak nasi, goreng telur mata kerbau, masak mee hoon goreng, buat karipap, etc. Semua pon kena praktis ye tak? Knowing me, well known for dessert-disaster master (ntah bila nak bijak buat desserts), I am yet to learn making these macarons.
Suatu hari nanti la kan...

Oh well, my review on these macarons will follow bila aku dah abis makan sumer :D