Macarons at The Peninsula Chicago
Few months ago, one breezy day, I stumbled upon a French pasty store in Chicago. The first thing I saw were these sort of small sandwich cookies with different colors and flavors. I couldn’t help but ask to try one. I still remember, my first ever macaron was a passion fruit one. From that moment on, a passion for those amazing treats was born in me. Overnight I have turned into a macaron fan. Always trying to find the next “fun” flavor or the newest spot in Chicago that has them. Indeed, they have been and growing in popularity in recent time. I have actually entertained the idea, along with @AliciaKan, of having a Veuve Clicquot and macarons crawl.
You can imagine how absolutely delighted I was when I received a message from @ThePeninsulaChi (The Peninsula Chicago’s Twitter account) inviting me to a demonstration and tasting of macarons. Does a cloud ten exist? It was a very unique experience, after all how many times do you get to visit the kitchen of the Executive Pastry Chef Celine Plano? Not very often. Chef Plano is a very talented and passionate person who is one of the very few women in the mostly men-dominated profession. You can read more about Chef Plano in this great interview!
Along with @AliciaKan, @Hooshy and @Cmozilo I learned a bit more about the process of making macarons along with the different flavors that The Peninsula offers at Pierrot Courmet which I highly recommend going to. Just thinking about their menu makes me hungry. They offer unique flavors like Acai Blueberry and PB&J and more traditional ones like Lemon, Dark Chocolate and Pistachio. Although, Chef Plano tells us, her favorite to make is the Olive Oil macaron. As odd as it sounds, she assures us that it’s very tasty. She’s also working on more exciting flavors exclusive to The Peninsula Chicago. Personally, I can’t wait to try the Gingerbread one! You can follow the link below to hear Chef Plano talk a little bit about the history of macarons. Chef Celine Plano at The Peninsula Chicago Here are some photos from the day and rest can be viewed on Flickr!
What flavors would YOU like to see? Leave it in the comment box, you never know it might just end up popping somewhere!
