You Say Macarons, I Say Macaroons, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

I may have been premature yesterday suggesting that the Macaroon Class may threaten the hegemony of Pittsburgh's Cupcake Class. The NPR story that prompted this little éclat apparently failed sufficiently to distinguish macaroons, which are the light coconut cookies that keep places like the Duquesne Club in business, from macarons (note the modestly different spelling), which are the French confections that are in fact driving the cupcake craze into the proverbial ditch. Wikipedia offers a discussion here; a trendier but more refined discussion is found at Serious Eats. Now that you can buy upscale cupcakes from a truck roving the streets of New York, macarons appear to be the Next Big (but Small) Food Thing.

Are there macarons to be found in Pittsburgh? Is the Cupcake Class still sleeping soundly?

Apologies, meanwhile, to any Pittsburgher who was misled by the suggestion that the Duquesne Club might become hip.

Macaroons: The New Cupcakes?

NPR reported today that macaroons are the new cupcakes. If that's true, then Pittsburgh's Cupcake Class should be quaking in its (UGG) boots. Pittsburgh already has not one but two established Macaroon Classes -- one that has haunted the Duquesne Club for decades, and one that prefers the oh-so-tasty macaroons at Enrico Biscotti, in the Strip.

Cupcakes, in other words, may turn out to be 21st century tulips.

Macaroons, Anyone?

What is it about exclusive private clubs and -- macaroons?

As a newcomer to Pittsburgh and outsider in the local social scene, about the only thing that's still noteworthy to me about the ultra-exclusive, ultra-historical private Duquesne Club is its reputation for serving extraordinary macaroon cookies. (Recipe here, among other places.) How times have changed. Consider this 1940 Time magazine account of the workings of the Club. Do white male tycoons similarly rule the city today? Answer: Not really. The source of Pittsburgh's economic momentum, if not its gravitas, has shifted from the Golden Triangle to Oakland. More on that in a different post.

But the macaroons persist, at least so long as the Club is able to bake its own. Consider the plight of the ultra-exclusive, ultra-historical private Century Association in New York, which also takes pride in its distinctive macaroons. The Century Association's macaroon supplier recently left the business, leaving the Association and its members scrambling for a replacement.

The Century Association and the Duquesne Club are not alone in their affection for these little cookies. Macaroons have a special place at private clubs. "Private Clubs" magazine suggests that the best macaroon of all is found at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. The curious thing, though, is that the club phenomenon is British. Macaroons are not. So what's with the macaroon?
I've eaten Duquesne Club macaroons, but my family is partial to the macaroons made for everyone by Pittsburgh's own Enrico Biscotti.

[Updated: "Century Club" was corrected to read "Century Association." Sorry.]