Sunday, September 26, 2010

Pastries

This post cannot possibly begin to do justice to the pastries that abound in this city. It also only represents a fraction of the pastries that I have tried already in my ten days here. It's going to have to be the first of many installments.Here we have my new favorite pastry, the pain suisse. It has replaced pain au chocolat as my go-to bakery item. The layers of pastry are more densely layered; it's less flaky and airy, chewier. The chocolate is spread throughout in small chunks rather than one narrow bar in the center. And there is a small amount of some creamy, cheesy golden filling. Sometimes it's sprinkled with powdered sugar as well. These are the macaroons that look so delectable and pretty. I haven't had any yet. They're expensive! And tiny. But one of these days...
Cornet aux amandes, from a bakery in the Marais. Chewy and super sweet, drenched with honey, nutty and crispy at the same time. I also got some halva, the very sweet confection made from pistachios. It was crumbly and moist and far better than the halva that I have eaten in the US, but still doesn't compare with the homemade version that my Syrian host-mother in Paris used to make 15 years ago (and probably still does.)

2 comments:

  1. I'll take two of the pain suisse for the morning of my arrival, s'il te plait!

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  2. You got it. I've already been scoping out the best bakery in my neighborhood in anticipation.

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