Market Manila

We arrived in Manila very late on Monday night, and it was practically Tuesday by the time we got home. But I have to say a HUGE thank you to Delta and Northwest Airlines that upgraded us to Business Class seats all the way from New York to Manila. We have rarely paid for Business Class seats in the last few years as airfares have skyrocketed, so it was a really nice surprise to pay the lowest possible roundtrip fare to NY and to have an upgrade all the way home. Those lie-flat beds DO make a huge difference in terms of arriving feeling less tired than usual. Inevitably, jet lag has set in and we are keeping really odd hours…

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Without a doubt, these were the family favorite on this recent trip to Paris. I know some folks feel Pierre Herme is overrated, and to some degree overpriced. But maybe we just nailed the timing right (early, within an hour of opening) or the pastry chef was in a good mood the night before… but these macarons were outstanding. Located on Rue Bonaparte, in the sixth arrondisement, it is a terrific neighborhood to go window shopping and explore smaller streets and squares. We started the morning with a trip to the market on Rue Raspail (subject of a separate post) and walked around until we hit Herme. A relatively recent phenomenon, Pierre Herme apprenticed in the kitchens of that legendary patisserie, Lenotre. If I had known that when we were in Paris, I would have taken extra steps to circle back to the neighborhood were Lenotre was located. Lenotre is the only macaron purveyor that I really wanted to sample that we didn’t manage to get to on our recent trip. But never mind, back to macarons of Herme.

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A quick note to say my apologies for doing the blog equivalent of “radio silence” or “air raid blackouts” the past week or so. Things have gone by in a frenetic blur… Got sick hours before a scheduled departure to New York City for my niece’s wedding and with my temperature climbing to 40C, I worried about getting pulled over en route in Tokyo or New York for suspected swine flu so I decided not to depart as scheduled despite having already checked into the flight. Mrs. MM and The Teen left as planned. I stayed home for another two days in bed, drinking lots of liquids and willing the cooties away. I am not fond of doctors or medicine. Finally departed two days later and arrived in New York less than 20 hours before the wedding! Managed to help sister out with flowers and other logistics and stayed upright throughout the ceremony and reception. Collapsed into bed for serious rest for a day or two. Jet lag and the flu is not a recommended combination. Throw in hay fever and “drug addict” is an appropriate description. Albeit prescription drugs. A few days later attended a nephew’s graduation festivities out on Long Island, did a little shopping, and now find ourselves frantically packing to return home. And in the past week, I have only checked the blog occasionally and couldn’t manage to write a single post. But stay tuned and things should return to normal soon. Keep yourselves amused with the archives in the meantime. :)

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We came across the large Gerard Mulot shop in the 6th arrondisement by chance. It was on my list of macarons to try, but I had missed earlier opportunities in other sections of the city (like the Marais) to locate their shops. David Lebovitz writes about them in this post. My first reaction upon looking through the windows and entering the store was that this place had serious turnover and they were doing a brisk business with display cases stocked to the brim. But this seemed more modern, less stuffy, more yuppie like as compared to the history, class, traditional and classic one would use to describe say Laduree or even to some degree Dalloyau. And the macarons were brighter, bolder and significantly larger than others we had tried…

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As far as family food memories go, Laduree figures at the center of one of our fondest “sweet” memories. On our first trip to Paris as a family, The Kid must have been just 7 or 8 years old, and we started off a day of sightseeing and window shopping with a subway ride that put us close to the Arc du Triomphe. Walking towards the fancy shopping streets, we passed by the main store of Laduree on the Champs d’elysee. From the entryway alone, you knew this was something special. And once you enter the store, it is the thing of childhood candy store fantasies. One of the most amazing patisseries/tea houses/restaurants I have ever seen, with the most beautiful displays of edible delights and interiors that can only be described as sumptuous. Check out their gorgeous website for more photos, but you have to see this place to believe it. On that first visit, we didn’t feel dressed enough to stay for a sit down tea or late breakfast, but what we did do was pick one of EVERY flavor of macaron they had on offer. If I recall correctly, we left with a beautiful box filled with some 20 macarons and walked about half a block down the avenue and settled onto a bench to watch the traffic drive by. Then, between the kid, Mrs. MM and myself, we proceeded to taste, each and every macaron and believe it or not, ate all 20 pieces in one sitting! Yowks! You only live once, right?

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Very good family friends are off to Paris on a family holiday this week, and I have received an urgent request for me to finish my series on macarons, started here for Fauchon, then a second post on La Maison du Chocolat. So I apologize in advance to diabetics, but the next four posts will be highly calorific, and a practical overdose in what may be my favorite of french sweet delicacies, the macaron. At first glance, the main Dalloyau branch on Rue Faubourg St. Honore seems a bit sparse and understated. But don’t let that fool you. For Parisians in the know, this “Maison” has a 207 year history in the food business and it stems back to restaurants opened in the early 1800’s. See their website here for more PR materials. We first tried Dalloyau many years ago, on a leisurely walk up and down that “Fifth Avenue” of Paris, and I realized I couldn’t do a run-down of Paris’ macarons without including Dalloyau. Luckily for most tourists and travellers these days, the most famous purveyors of macarons seem to have set up satellite stands all across Paris, and Dalloyau has one at the food hall of Galleries Lafayette near the Opera.

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Just a quick note to say I am away from my desk, and at this moment deeply mired in flowers and last minute preparations for my niece’s wedding. And while we have email access, on someone else’s computer, it is handicapped in a few ways. Therefore, I will NOT be responding to email questions sent to me for the next several days. Meanwhile, enjoy the posts I have programmed for the next few days. I will be checking in once in a while, but even questions left in the comments section will unfortunately get less attention than usual… And yes, New York City is unbelievably wet and somewhat cool for this time of year… :)

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It’s a bit of deja vu, as I did a Father’s Day post in 2006 which featured two newly hatched birds in a perfectly formed nest resting on a yucca branch in plain view from our terrace at the beach. And I did another post on a baby bird smacking into our glass doors, twice! So when I paused to observe, and eventually photograph this pair of maya-maya birds at the beach last weekend, most probably caring for their newly hatched chicks, I thought that it was an incredible coincidence that Father’s day was just a few days away…

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