There has been quite a bit of debate and education around the office this week about the correct spelling and definition of a Macaron.
Let’s attampt to set the record straight,
Macaron ,(French or Italian)(the product we make) The oldest recipe found in publication appears to be a French recipe from 1904. But the product has been found to date as early as the 1700’s either by the French or Italians.Macaron is normally made with egg whites, icing sugar, ground almond, and food colouring. The macaron is commonly filled with ganache, butter cream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. Its name is derived from the Italian word maccarone or maccherone.
Characteristics include, smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference (referred to as the “foot”). It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth.
Macaroon,(Likley Scottish) are slightly different and full of coconut, not two biscuits sandwiched together with a filling.
See Wiki for some more info for those with an inquisitive nature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaron