Macaron

A macaron (/ˌmækəˈrɒn/ MAK-ə-RON, French: [makaʁɔ̃] ^ⓘ) or French macaroon (/ˌmækəˈruːn/ MAK-ə-ROON) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and often food colouring.

Since the 19th century,^{[citation needed]} a typical Parisian-style macaron has been a sandwich cookie filled with a ganache, buttercream or jam. As baked, the circular macaron displays a smooth, square-edged top, a ruffled circumference—referred to as the "crown" or "foot" (or "pied")—and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth. Macarons can be found in a wide variety of flavours that range from traditional sweet such as raspberry or chocolate to savoury (as a foie gras).

There is some variation in whether the term macaron or macaroon is used, and the related macaroon is often confused with the macaron. In North America, most bakers have adopted the French spelling of macaron for the meringue-based treat to distinguish the two. The two confections have a shared history with macaroni (Italian: maccheroni, from Greek μακαρία). French words ending with "-on" that were borrowed into English in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually spelled with "-oon" (for example: balloon, cartoon, platoon). In the UK, many bakeries continue to use the term macaroon.

Although the sandwich-style macaron known today was created in Paris by Claude Gerbet, the story of the macaron can be traced to other almond-based cakes that appeared earlier.

Arab troops from Ifrīqiya (now Tunisia) occupied Sicily in 827. They brought with them nut-based sweets such as fālūdhaj and lausinaj—baked goods with sweet almond cream inside. These pastries had been handed down by the Sassanid shahs in Persia, where the almond cake was made to celebrate the Zoroastrian New Year (Nowruz). In Sicily and in Toledo, Spain, another contact point between Muslim and Christian culture, fālūdhaj and lausinaj developed into various desserts, such as the almond-paste tarts called marzapane and caliscioni.

Some food historians trace the origin of macarons to a French monastery in Cormery in the 8th century (791), in the Loire Valley. This particular macaron is made with egg whites, sugar and almonds.

A Swiss online encyclopaedia on the history of baking says that they were brought from al-Andalus (present-day Spain) to Marrakesh (present-day Morocco) in the early 11th century by the sultan and first king of the Almoravid dynasty Yusuf ibn Tashfin, and that they were served mainly during Ramadan.

A popular legend tells that the macaron was introduced in France by a chef of Catherine de Medici, however, a thorough investigation of records listing service personnel who worked with Catherine since her arrival in France until her death revealed the absence of any Italian chefs.