The French rage these days is macarons! How
about these fabulous ones we had for breakfast
in a little shop called Angelina's around the corner
from our hotel. They were filled with a little
raspberry jelly type filling surrounded by a bit
of frosting and then a row of raspberries. On top
they were sprinkled with candied violets and a touch
of edible silver - an edible piece of art.
Each bite popped with a fresh raspberry. These
are quite a bit larger than most macarons we found
but I had no problem finishing this one off.
Look forward to a post where I try making these
fabulous treats.
I know two of my favorite cooks,
Joni at Red Couch Recipes
and
Monique at La Table De Nana say they are
harder than they expected but they both
made beautiful macarons.
I had candied some of my own violets this spring
but of course had to pick some up in Paris too.
Theirs are quite different from mine.
There are no croissants like they have in France
and we had some of the best ever for breakfast every
morning. We bought both of these treats and
then headed to the Tuileries to eat them on a park bench.
I certainly couldn't eat like this every day at home
but we were on vacation! Look at how flakey
and tender these are.
Have you tried making homemade butter croissants?
I have and they have never turned out anything like this.
On my last visit to Paris I stumbled upon Galeries Lafayette's
Gourmet Food emporium. This is a food lover's delight.
It is huge and has fresh foods,
prepared foods, places to stop and eat and all kinds of
packaged foods.
I have dreamt of going back there and so I Googled it to find
it.
(These are wonderful truffle oils that we had to bring home.)
(These are all kinds of sugar and chocolate decorations for
baking. Of course I filled my cart with these fun and unusual
goodies.)
We didn't find it the first day (I had forgotten my Google
instructions in the hotel) so we went back another day and
it was more wonderful than I remembered.
Just look at these hanging prosciuttos; their meats are
unbelievable. The meat can be bought
by the kilo or the gram. Some of these meats
are several hundred euros for a kilo - you
probably would just buy a few slices.
You can also buy sandwiches ready made.
It is really fun to purchase a picnic meal
from here and walk over to the Tuileries for your picnic.
There is a huge Oriental section of prepared foods too.
And of course, all kinds of unbelievable desserts and
pastries. I found every pastry to be delightful. I hate it
when a pastry looks great but tastes awful.
Beautiful, beautiful macarons. I had never had one before
this trip.
No one minded me taking photos until we walked outside
of the actual store and saw this beautiful display of bulk
spices. I just had to have a photo of it and immediately
I was told not to take photos!
We filled our baskets with truffle oil, chocolates, chocolate
dragees and candy decorations. It was wonderful.
Of course I planned on this and brought an extra suitcase
for this - one for food and one for other purchases.
If you make it to Galeries Lafayette and you want to go here,
cross the street to the Men's store and it is on the
far end of the building up one level.
One caution - you can bring home lots of the food but not
meat unless it is canned. The US Custom's agent said they
will take it away even if it is vacuum packed, so enjoy it
there. You also can't bring any fresh fruit or vegetables
but cheese are fine. Of course if you live in Europe,
you can bring anything home with you.
I will be posting this with
I apologize as I wanted to stay right on top
of our trip, but once we got to Italy, our internet
service wouldn't work on Blogger, I couldn't upload
pictures and I couldn't comment on anyone's posts,
so I will be busy catching you up and catching up with
you!
