Vignette: Macaron Mania

For many years, the Philippines has enjoyed its fair share of imported American, Swiss, and Belgian pastries and sweets. Look around at any mall, and you will never fail to see various shapes and sizes of cookies, chocolates and cupcakes assailing your senses. Even culinary schools have baking and dessert making classes dedicated to these alone. Fast forward to the present, and we see that the forces of globalization have brought a never-before-seen treat into town: Macaron de Paris.

Macaron de Paris originated in the 1800s, when Pierre Desfontaines filled two almond and meringue based cookie bases with ganache. With today’s more advanced technology (i.e. food coloring), different exciting flavors of the age old macaron have come to life, and these flavor lines are even broader than the flavor lines of the other experimental goody, ice cream.

The macaron has become a hit not only with Parisians, but also with people from diverse nationalities because of its flavorful, velvety and nutty combination. In fact, in La Salle, macarons sold like hotcakes during the recent University Week celebrations, such that students rushing in to buy in the late afternoon were mostly disappointed with empty display jars. Thus, with all the free time your summer break affords you, The Menagerie breaks down a list of must-go macaron establishments that will suit your budget.

The French Baker

This Chinese-owned bakery was originally famous for its breads, but has now expanded into a restaurant as well as a patisserie. Despite the limited number of macaron flavors, namely Raspberry, Mocha, Chocolate and Pistachio, this is the store most Filipinos visit due to its high visibility in malls and reasonable price. French Baker has 30 branches scattered across the country, and it sells Macaron de Paris for only PHP 36 apiece.

Tous Les Jours

“Tous les jours” is the French term for everyday. While this establishment looks like it was founded by a Francophone, or even a Francophile, it is far from the truth. TLJ actually originated from South Korea, where the CJ group, a large conglomerate, decided to put up food and beverage operations on top of its already burgeoning media, pharmaceutics, infrastructure and home shopping ventures. The Philippines is one of the countries where they set up roots, along with China, United States, and Vietnam.

TLJ is a café-bakery that specializes in French-Asian baked goods. Along with its unique collection of breads, it also has savory pastries, cakes and five flavors of Macaron de Paris, namely Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango, Green Tea and Strawberry. Each piece of Macaron de Paris is sold at PHP 28, which is considered a steal by today’s standards.

Sweet Bella

This restaurant and dessert bar has nothing to do with the famous protagonist in the Twilight franchise, but has everything to do with delicious food and decadent desserts. Sweet Bella mainly serves American food, but their desserts are a different story altogether. Their designer cakes frequently appear on awards lists, and their macarons, which at PHP 60 are the most expensive ones featured on this list, are flakier than the usual fare. Still, if you are on the hunt for some macarons, then Sweet Bella should be on your checklist.

Bizu Patisserie

If you want to be hoity toity French for a day, then Bizu is the place to go. After all, Bizu is the pioneer of Macaron de Paris in the Philippines, and it also serves French cuisine to boot. The ambience is excellent, as well. Dessert addicts will have their fill with the plethora of cake choices and macaron flavors, which include Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate, Rose Lychee, Salted Caramel, Hazelnut and White Truffle, Lime and Blueberry, among others. If you are willing to spend PHP 55 for a piece of this velvety goodness, then Bizu is a macaron experience that you would not want to miss.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

TWG, which stands for The Wellness Group, was established in Singapore, and focuses on selling quality teas sourced worldwide. The fact that it also sells macarons tells us that their macarons must contain something special. Indeed, TWGs macarons are infused with various tea flavors, if not being tea flavored themselves. For PHP 50, you can choose between Napoleon Tea & Caramel; Camelot Tea & Praline; 1837 Black Tea & Blackcurrant; Earl Grey & Chocolate; Grand Wedding Tea, Passionfruit & Coconut; Lemon Bush Tea; Moroccan Mint Tea; and Bain de Rose Tea.  If you can look past the price, then you might want to take home a boxful and just munch on them all!

What are you waiting for?

Macarons are expensive, yes, and they are also vulnerable to easy cracking and ‘breakage’. However, these characteristics make every bite even more special, and purchasing a box of these yummy treats will make one take the phrase “handle with care” more seriously and every bit more worth the delicate flavor.

The aforementioned stores may not provide an honest-to-goodness Parisian macaron experience like Pierre Hermé, who is the Picasso of Pastry, or Ladurée, indubitably the Best Macaron Maker in the World, but they will not make a huge dent out of your pockets either. Seems like a good tradeoff for a few seconds of dessert bliss!