I was ignorant and now I understand.  At least I *think* I understand because I can’t find any information on the internet about these chocolate covered macarons.  I wish there was some more information because then I could also order some in the future yet instead I must suffer through the knowledge that I am unlikely to try these gems again.

What is Mac a Lyon?  Well, it comes from Sebastian Bouillet.  After a career in the most prestigious French pastries, he decided in 2000 to return to breathe new life into the shop his parents started.  In 2004, he became a member of the “Relais Dessert International” and continued to push on working and advancing their work as well as his own.  He has opened many shops including two in Japan.

When I originally saw these I have to admit I was not exactly thrilled with the packaging and it didn’t appeal to me.  It was orange and the font and configuration of the text was less than appealing to my Canadian eyes.  Still, the group I was with was given a review box and we each duly took one.  I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting anything thrilling.

Each macaron has sprinkles of gold flake on the top and is completely covered in a dark 70% chocolate.  It isn’t thrilling chocolate but it isn’t burnt or bitter so it is nice.  Biting in to one I understand the tagline “70% chocolate, 100% pleasure”.  These macarons are a delicious delight – light and airy and yet the filling is soft and lush.  The sea salt caramel flavour comes striding through immediately when you bite into one and it lasts filling your mouth with pleasure.

These are just magical macarons. I’m having trouble putting into words how delightful it is as you bite through the perfect thickness chocolate shell into the light macaron and through the filling to feel that sea salt caramel flavour fill your mouth because I just want to eat it and enjoy it and ignore note-taking to live in the moment of the taste.  That delightful taste combines with the chocolate and evolves before finishing quickly and cleanly, leaving you wanting more.

I’d happily buy these if I could.  Probably far too often as well!

I’ve experienced Pierre Herme macarons before and I think perhaps that my customer service experience coloured my experience.  In fact, since first trying Pierre Herme and decrying them, I have since admitted I needed to revisit that assertion.  I was given the opportunity to get a second first impression recently at the Belgravia location.

This store is posh and ties in to the theme of linking up with haute couture over chocolate, baking or food of any sort.  One of the highest accolades they have had is that their shop was mistaken for a perfumery!  I can attest to the fact that the shop is very up market and the customers seemed, while I was in there, very enthusiastic and polite – a far, far cry from the ones in Selfridges.  I’ve started to liken Selfridges to a compact Yorkdale.  My investment guy says you might as well stab your eyes with knitting needles as shop in Yorkdale on a Saturday and I agree. But Pierre Herme’s own shop is a world away from there and tempts the shopper in with cool, sleek lines and a chocolate and macaron counter to die for.  As you walk in to the cool interior, you are greeted by someone behind the counter.  The friendly smile leads you in without demanding attention and as you walk further you find yourself surrounded.

On each side of you there is something – a canister of macaron-inspired teas, a display of chocolates, jams, the macarons themselves, boxes of batons of chocolates and more.  Everything is laid out with precision and with a desire to maintain ratios that are pleasing to the eye.  The colours are soothing with an emphasis on creating a boutique atmosphere within which you could as easily sell jewellery or perfume as maracons.  The experience of poshness does not extend to being snooty.  At no time while I was in the store did I feel looked down upon nor was I ever made to feel as though I was intruding.  It was absolute bliss!

I was gifted with a box of 7 macarons after a long chat with one of the Pierre Herme staff who had heard of my experiences with the Selfridges counter and invited me into the store.  While I admit the experience I had at Selfridges definitely coloured my opinion, I also tried some of the chocolates again and they were absolutely and unquestionably different.  I am unsure what changed but the chocolates were absolutely better and now I would have to say that the chocolates, while perhaps not Soma, are innovative and delicious with the whisky distinctly Laphroaig and the macaron chocolate absolutely delicious.  However this is all about the macarons.

Indulgence – fresh mint and sweet peas – The first one I tried in shop was minted peas which I called mushy peas at first before eating it.  It has a lovely fresh mint flavour and a hint of that green flavour from ripe, fresh peas.  Weird to say but delicious to eat and with little bits of green pea in there you know you are not tasting anything but genuine natural flavours.

Infiniment Jasmin – Jasmine flower and jasmine tea – This was delightful in ways my words will pale next to.  This jasmine was not a floral extravaganza but a delightful hint of jasmine such as you might bet in a Matcha chocolate or a delicate cup of jasmine silver needle tea.  The flavour is ethereal – there and yet fleeting quickly so you take another bite to convince yourself that it was, indeed there.  Delightful to look at with its slight iridescence and magical to taste, I wish I had more.

Mogador – chocolate and passion fruit – This macaron was, perhaps my favourite despite being a chocolate fan The interplay of passion fruit with the chocolate meant I was always experiencing a different set of flavours.  The combination of the two in a fresh macaron with the crisp shell which is not crunchy and the soft but firm ganache with the addition of the passion fruit puree was delightful and it is unsurprising that this is a firm favourite.

Arabesque – Apricot & Pistachio – delicious. I loved the subtle apricot and I didn’t get too much pistachio so this was al all-around winner for me. The slightly tart apricot was always there in the background and occasionally pushed through to the front but was always mingling and melding with the pistachio so I wasn’t just tasting one or the other. Not a passive pistachio fan and yet I do like the nut, this was a delightful macaron.

Olive oil & Vanilla – I really didn’t get overwhelmed by vanilla but what I did get was a wet filling and crisp shell, seemingly defiant of all other macarons out there with wet everything or ones which are over baked (as though they were deep fried – I mean, do you tell them or stay silent when they are just starting out?).  This was a delightful mess and delicious but very different from the chocolate-based ones. How cool that it wasn’t too extreme – loved it!

Reglisse & Violette – Liquorice & violet – Violet side down, slightly scared, I tried this macaron – and was extremely pleasantly surprised! The violet sweetness covers any extreme liquorice flavour and yet there it is – a subtle backdrop to the flavour that comes into its own once the sweetness of the violet has passed and the macaron is a memory, there is that liquorice. It isn’t too overpowering and while slightly sweet, it is also darker and delicious.

Infiniment Chocolat – chocolate – this was an interesting macaron.  I’m fascinated by the use of porcelana beans which are famed for their extremely mild (and some would say wholly inoffensive) flavour. This is not a bean famed for it’s richness and depth but rather the opposite. I’d have to say that the macaron was excellent as a chocolate macaron with the macaron cookie (if you will indulge my inaccurate reference) crisp and soft as any good macaron should be and the ganache firm but not wet, lending a structural stability not in the Arabesque.  A delicious eat but I hate to admit it but in a box of 7 where I have to choose, I’d get 4 Mogador and 3 of this one *shock* *horror*

All in all, this was an experience I hope to repeat.  If you have never tried Pierre Herme then I recommend going to the shop and not Selfridges but if there is no other way for you to access these delightful wheat-free gems, do get to Selfridges and try them for yourself!

There is something about a good macaron that I find hard to find. I think I’m picky. I wasn’t fussed on the Pierre Herme macarons and that’s probably down to individual taste. I thought as I was in Brussles what could it hurt to investigate come of the local creations.

The macarons were in a cute counter in a chocolate chop whose truffles bore a striking resemblance to other chocolates I had been seeing around town. It looked like there was a chocolate cartel or something so I went for the macarons and hadn’t seen a Verve Cliquiot macaron before and went for that and chocolate.

The chocolate was OK but lacklustre. I think the Pierre Herme one outshines this one but who knows which batch was fresher. It could have been that the chocolate one I had was older as the macaron itself was chewy without the crisp outer crust I am used to. The inner filling was OK but nothing to write home about (and barely deserves a blog mention really). I figured that star would be the champers one as they did charge more for it.

My first impression was of a slimy interior. I’m not sure quite what went wrong here but ewwww… the next thing I notices was that macaron casing itself was not crisp but soft and almost soggy. It did have a strong champagne taste but it did not shine by any means. It was really not a shining example of the macaron makers’ art.

All in all I was disappointed but perhaps I was expecting too much. I was in the heart of the tourist area and yet slightly off the beaten path and I was there on a Saturday at the end of the say. Maybe I got an old batch, maybe I got the one bad one. I loved the effort they had taken with the presentation and the shimmering gold of the Verve Cliquiot macaron. Or maybe they just aren’t up to scratch. Why not pop in if you’re in the area and add your thoughts here?

I had the chance to visit the Pierre Herme concession at Selfridges and tried some of their lovely macarons.  I did not realise macarons didn’t always contain coconut and these were a delight so I thought I’d trust their chocolates.  I mentioned to the gentleman helping me that I was a harsh judge of chocolate so he was prepared for my critique.

Chloe – pitched as a raspberry and chocolate ganache, raspberry macaron biscuit and raspberry macaron almond paste chocolate, it was an odd chocolate.  The dark chocolate and raspberry combination was OK but the almond paste for me didn’t add to the chocolate flavour.  I think it was a delightful chocolate though and would be a fun and delightful chocolate at a dinner party – especially with macarons. Yum.

Pietra – piedmont hazelnut fondant and crispy praline with the almond paste and the macaron biscuit.  The dark chocolate is fully overwhelmed by the hazelnut and the grainy texture makes this chocolate less appealing. I left half of it – yuck.

Mogador – milk chocolate and passion fruit ganache, almond paste, macaron piece and milk chocolate covering, I had higher hopes for this chocolate.  The passion fruit flavour overwhelmed the chocolate flavour but it wasn’t as overpowering as the macaron.  The almond paste added a bit of texture but not too much. Got finished – yum.

Intense – bitter chocolate ganache, chocolate macaron, and almond paste. I was worried about this chocolate after the previous three.  The almond paste here was very grainy and the chocolate wasn’t great being far too bitter for my taste.  Half got left behind – yuck.

I discovered the new Pierre Herme concession at Selfridges in London.  The beautiful area dedicated to these lovely pastries is both attractive and practical.  Talking to one of the French assistants I learned that these macarons are not macaroons but lovely almond pastries.

These are made in Northern France and shipped to the UK daily if I understood correctly.  Trusting the assistant to select for me, he chose Mogador – a combination of milk chocolate and passion fruit, Rose – a pure rose concoction, and Imagine – green tea and black sesame together.

The rose was the one I tried first.  It didn’t smell of rose but from the first bite it was unmistakable as rose.  Not overpowering or overly floral, the delicately crisp shell of the macaron was beautifully balanced with the rose cream filling.  A different taste sensation but very pleasant.  Not too sweet it was beautifully balanced.  I finished it all up!

Next I tried the milk chocolate and passion fruit.  The passion fruit was the first strong flavour, with the milk chocolate struggling slightly to make an impression on the palette.  This one was also slightly denser, with the filling more solid and dense than the rose. I left it half way through to come back to later.  It was a bit strong for me flavour-wise.

Imagine is the final one I tried.  The strong sesame flavour was quite overwhelming and overpowered the green tea.  The flavour of the green tea does come through at times and is clearly a high quality green tea with none of the bitterness of the lesser types.  Having been to a few green tea ceremonies while in Japan and having learned as much as I could about the ceremony, I found the flavour took me straight back to the mouth feel of the tea after the sweet.  When the black sesame flavour was prominent I found it difficult to eat so left this one unfinished.

I’d recommend them and since these are all about discovering flavours give them all a try.  There is nothing like discovering something new and yummy!

Next I have truffles and macaron chocolates to try from Pierre Herme.