Ahhh, le macaron. Une pâtisserie subtile et sensible qui fond dans votre bouche à chaque morsure, celle….oh, je suis désolé…achem, oh…I mean I’m sorry…I just finished a rendezvous with French Pastry Chef Frederic Barasse here at the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach. I couldn’t help but speak from the heart (BTW my heart speaks French) after this culinary immersion into la vie en macaron!
I was lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to meet with Pastry Chef Barasse thanks to the lovely and most gracious staff here at the hotel. Shout out to Guest Services (Ari) and the Club level team (Joe, Phillip and Diana)! What an amazing surprise for this Chicago girl! Chef Barasse was kind enough to break from his pastry duties to chat with me about his techniques in making French Macarons and other delights of his skilled hands.
Chef Barasse and I both had some similar qualms with the fragile little pastry…the humidity, the oven temperature, the colors, all can be problematic – it was as if we were sharing war stories. We looked through his trays of freshly made macarons; they were stunning. From the beautiful hazelnut passion fruit to the Valentine’s Day heart shaped masterpiece, it was clear that Chef Barasse has mastered the most finicky of classic french pastries. I take my toque off to Monsieur Barasse.
We concluded the macaron jam session with the customary photo shoot, that I’m sure all French Pastry Chefs adore…especially when they have huge events that evening! Macarons wait for no one, but Chef Barasse was kind enough to wait on me!
Merci Chef Barasse!
PS – Click the photo above to check out my visit with Chef Barasse.