French Macarons vs. American Macaroons

[Bob Wells]

I randomly happened upon Macaron Bee during this stroll through North Georgetown - I didn't even know it existed, and was shocked when I saw it.

I was in Paris once about 16 years ago, and there were brightly colored macarons in shop windows on literally every block. Took them quite a while to get across the pond, it seems.

[Choirgirl21]

Holy crap. All of this time I've been so confused by why sometimes I ask for a macaroon and I get the delicious ball of coconut-y goodness and sometimes I get these icky meringue cookie type things. I had no idea the latter was a "macaron", lol How does one say it if you're not using the French pronunciation, as I'm assuming most Americans do not?

[cheezepowder]

I'm with you Choirgirl21 - I've had a bunch of the French kind of macarons, and I much prefer the American coconut macaroons.

[saf]

delicious ball of coconut-y goodness and sometimes I get these icky meringue cookie type things.

Wow, I think you may have that backwards?

(I really like meringue. Not so much coconut.)

[DonRocks]

Macarons and Macaroons are the same thing; the first word is French, and the second word is English. This is very similar to the discussion we had two days ago on regional variations of Biryanis: the French variation is the meringue cookies; the American variation is the coconut cakes.

In France, the word "Macaroon" doesn't exist; it's called a "congolais" (one from the Congo) or "le rocher à la noix de coco" (the coconut rock)." I suspect, although I'm not sure, that it's correct still to call it a "Macaron American" although that wouldn't be proper. These all just represent the American type. Despite the proper French spelling that Macaron Bee uses, I suspect most Americans would still call these meringue cookies "French Macaroons."

Incidentally, in the Michelin Red Guide, a "star" in France isn't called an "etoile" - it's (informally, at least) called a "macaron." So a three-star restaurant would have "trois macarons." It's not uncommon to hear this.

It all stems from the Italian word ammaccare meaning "to crush or beat," and like with the regional biryani variations, a good article can be found here in Wikipedia which should answer any question you might have (isn't Wikipedia great?)

[zoramargolis]

A very simple, two-ingredient coconut macaroon can be made by mixing a bag of shredded coconut with just enough sweetened condensed milk to moisten the coconut so that it will stick together. Using a small scoop or a spoon, arrange balls of the mixture on a silpat (it can stick to parchment) covered baking sheet. Bake in a slow oven until lightly browned.