Chewy coconut macaroons are the cookie of choice during Passover, the Jewish holiday that begins this year at sundown on Saturday. Some are dipped in chocolate, others are made with chopped nuts, chocolate or butterscotch chips, raisins or even jam.
More homestyle than haute, the cookies seem to have little in common with the elegant, sandwich-style French macarons sold year-round at fine-quality bakeries. Even the spelling is different.
But, as it turns out, the cookies are actually close relatives.
Like so many dishes, macaroons have tangled, multi-ethnic roots. Some culinary historians credit the Italians, others the French. Either way, the cookie’s origins lie outside the Jewish community.
The earliest reference to macaroons traces to an 8th Century French monastery, where the cookies were supposedly made in the shape of “monks’ navels,” according to Matthew Goodman in “Jewish Food: The World at Table.” (Goodman writes that the historical record doesn’t give any information about the actual shape of the monks’ navels.)
The pro-Italian scenario begins with the derivation of the word “macaroon.” Most sources connect it to maccarone, the Italian word for paste. Maccarone also is used in some parts of Italy to refer to maccherone, a tubular pasta. Almond paste (a mix of ground almonds and sugar), a standard ingredient in classic macaroons, is virtually the same color as pasta, which is the presumed connection.
Fitting for the holiday
Although the cookies’ lineage may be in question, macaroons are important at this time of the year because they’re flourless, which makes them ideal for Passover.
For the eight days of Passover, observant Jews eat neither leavened nor fermented foods, to commemorate their ancestors’ hasty departure from Egypt. Flour made from matzos is the only wheat-based flour permitted during Passover (and for the matzo to be “kosher for Passover,” it has to be prepared according to a strict timetable). Every form of wild or commercial yeast is forbidden, as are grains that can ferment. Taking their place is an array of finely ground nut or potato-based flours, along with the aforementioned matzo flour. Stiffly beaten egg whites are typically used to leaven baked goods — such as macaroons.
Italian Jews may well have been the first to adapt macaroons for use during Passover, which supports the argument for the cookies’ Italian lineage, according to the Web site, The Nibble.com. This scenario credits Italian monks, rather than their French brethren, with the development of the macaroon. If this version is correct, it’s not a stretch to assume that when the Florentine princess Catherine de Medici married King Henry II of France in 1533, her pastry chefs brought the recipe with them. At this point, conjecture gives way to fact.
Fueled by the revolutionaries’ anti-clerical sentiments, attacks on monasteries were common during the French Revolution (1789-1799). Two nuns — some sources say Benedictines, others Carmelites — took refuge in the French city of Nancy and financed their stay by making and selling macaroons. Historians refer to them as the “Macaroon Sisters.”
Italian macaroon lookalike
Amaretti, Italian cookies made with egg whites and almond paste, are so much like macaroons that they’re truly variations on the same theme. And in contrast to macaroons, their origin is relatively well-documented.
Francesco Moriondo, pastry chef of the court of Savoy, is credited with inventing amaretti some time in the mid-17th Century, reports The Nibble site. Contemporary amaretti are made either with chopped bitter almonds or with the almond-flavored liqueur amaretto.
More than 200 years later, the Parisian pastry chef Pierre Desfontaines Laduree gave macaroons an elegant twist when he paired two cookies sandwich-style with a filling of chocolate ganache (a mix of chocolate and cream). His eponymous Parisian bakery currently offers dozens of flavors, including exotics like blackcurrant violet and salted-butter caramel.
Closer to home, Laura Frankel, executive chef for Wolfgang Puck Catering at Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, makes a simple almond macaroon. Sarah Levy, of Sarah’s Pastries & Candies, does four kinds of French macaroons: chocolate with chocolate ganache, vanilla bean with vanilla bean buttercream, raspberry filled with housemade raspberry jam, and maple paired with maple buttercream. All are made with finely ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar and egg whites. She also makes a simple coconut macaroon.
Contemporary macaroons often are made with coconut, a natural preservative that keeps them fresher longer. In some recipes, the coconut replaces the finely ground nuts; in others, it’s used as a supplement. While denser and less fragile than delicate French macaroons, coconut macaroons are delicious and readily available and easy to bake.
And easy is key when holidays roll around.
“My strategy for making delicious Passover food is simple,” Frankel said. “Just keep it real. After all, you are feeding those you love. They deserve the best.”
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Tips for making macaroons
*Humidity can affect the texture of macaroons. Pastry chef Sarah Levy suggests that if your kitchen is humid, you can put dry ingredients such as almond flour and confectioners’ sugar in an oven that’s only a little warm. She says this really dries everything out.
*The amount of batter that is used will affect the texture of the finished cookie, writes cookbook author Michele Scicolone in “Italian Holiday Cooking.” “If you use less than a tablespoon of batter,” she writes, “the cookies turn out too crisp and flat.”
*For French macaroons, Levy suggests that once they’re piped and ready to go into the oven, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before you bake them. They will form a slight shell that will keep them from cracking when they’re baked.
*Chef Laura Frankel suggests using a double baking sheet to keep the bottoms of the macaroons from burning or getting too brown.
— Barbara Revsine
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Coconut macaroons
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes per batch
Yield: 24
Adapted from a recipe by Sarah Levy, owner of Sarah’s Pastries & Candies.
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons hot water
2 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, 1 minute; remove from heat.
2. Place the coconut in a large bowl; stir the sugar mixture into the coconut, stirring to combine. Stir in the egg whites and vanilla.
3. Form into small rounds using a tablespoon; place on greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly; bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes per batch. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
Nutrition information per cookie: 75 calories, 56% of calories from fat, 5 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 8 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 7 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Toasted coconut macaroons
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes per batch
Yield: 24
Mindy Segal, chef/owner of Hot Chocolate, makes these macaroons and often tops them with homemade marshmallows and a drizzle of chocolate.
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup toasted coconut, see note
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Beat the egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Add the salt; beat in sugar slowly. Raise the speed to high; beat until stiff, about 2 more minutes. Fold in the coconut.
2. Pipe mounds the size of quarters onto greased cookie sheets using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Bake until the meringue is firm, about 10-15 minutes per batch. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
Note: To toast the coconut, place in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven. Cook, stirring, every few minutes, until just turning golden, 4-5 minutes.
Nutrition information per cookie: 48 calories, 46% of calories from fat, 3 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 6 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 18 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Mississippi praline macaroons
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes per batch
Yield: 24
Adapted from a recipe in “Jewish Cooking in America,” by Joan Nathan.
3 egg whites
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans, plus 24 pecan halves
1. Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes; add the sugar slowly, beating until whites form stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped nuts by hand.
2. Cover a cookie sheet with foil; grease the foil. Spoon heaping teaspoons of batter on the foil, leaving 1 inch between cookies; press down flat. Place a pecan half on each.
3. Bake until the cookies are firm but still shiny, about 30 minutes per batch; transfer to wire racks to cool.
Nutrition information per cookie: 81 calories, 48% of calories from fat, 5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 9 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
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ctc-goodeating@tribune.com
