History Lesson: Marie Antoinette and Macarons (But, Mostly, Macarons)

If this princess had to choose a favourite cookie, it would have to be the French macaron (referred to as macaron parisien). I was introduced to it by a small local bakery, and then shown the work and love that goes into every almond-flavored bite while attending pastry school. The perfect dryness of the almond meal plays with the proper mixing of the dry ingredients into the fluffy whites to create the much-loved French sandwich cookie.

Confusion may come when the macaron is mixed up with the macaroon. In fact, some may even attempt to pronouce the two the same. But they are, in fact, two entirely different cookies even though they share similar origins.

Part of this origin can be found in how each name is derived. The word "macaroon" is comes from from the French "macaron" which itself is derived from the Italian word "maccherone", which means "fine dough" in English.

The original macarons were much like amaretti in that they had a crunchy outside and chewy inside. It is believed that the original fillingless almond cookie was brough to France by Catherine de Medici's chefs in 1533 and that these cookies were features at her wedding to Henry II. But the popularity of these cookies didn't begin until 1792 when two Carmelite nuns, Sisters Marguerite and Marie-Elisabeth, when seeking asylum during the French Revolution, began baking and selling the unfilled cookies to support themselves. And it wasn't until the early 20th century that the idea of sanwiching ganache between two cookies came about- an idea created by Pierre Desfontaines Ladurée.

So this time line presents us with a slight predicament. Queen Marie Antoinette was dining frequently on these tasty sandwich cookies throughout the entirety of the new Sophia Copolla movie. But, Marie Antoinette died in 1793. That is just one year after the Carmelite nuns sold their filling-free cookies in Nancy. And more than one hundred years before Ladurée sandwiched chocolate ganache between the cookies. This would bring me to think that the depiction, however lovely, of the modern day macaron being eaten by the famed French queen, is something thought up more in the minds of film-makers and less by historians.

Yes, the original flavour of the was two plain almond macarons with a chocolate ganache sandwiched between. But now the flavours seem endless. Ranging from rose, orange blossom, and anise to flavours like basil lime, jasmine tea and olive oil. These versatile cookies can be flavoured and filled with almost anything. (Though, generally, the actual cookie is not flavoured- with the exception of flavors like coffee and chocolate.)

Now that you've read all about these tasty cookies, maybe you'd like to try you hand at them. There are numerous recipes out there in books, on-line and otherwise, so feel free to browse the following links:

Lemon Macarons

Chocolate Macarons

Rose Macarons

Salted Caramel Macarons

Violet Cornmeal Macarons (that closely resemble the original macaron)

Diana's Macaron Recipe

Basic Macaron Recipe

French Food and Cook Macaron Recipe

Ladurée Chocolate Macarons

Raspberry-Chocolate Macarons

Matcha-Chestnut, Salted Caramel, and Toasted Sesame Macarons

French and Italian Meringue-based Recipes

Also, for those more interested in purchasing macarons than making them, you can find the delicious morsels here at L'Epicerie. (And for more information on the original macaron, please look here.)

Image of La Grande Épicerie