mardi 20 avril 2010

J'adore les macarons de Baroque Bistro Pâtisserie

Les macarons de Baroque Bistro Pâtisserie 2


previous related post

After my first taste of a Baroque macaron I had to go back for more! On my second trip, the nice staff member allowed me to try another one for free and I ended up buying a pack of 6 (they also come in packs of 4, 9 and 12).

Here's my pack (after I'd eaten one). It was sheer willpower to allow myself to eat only one per day! They do keep very well in the fridge.

Don't quote me but I think these were the flavours:
1) jasmine tea, 2) rosewater, 3) pistachio with sour cherry, 4) salted caramel, 5) chocolate.


This photo was taken after my third trip back to Baroque. I took a new French friend for a tour around Sydney city and we went to Baroque which was nearby because I just HAD to get some more!

Here is mine (strawberry) half eaten with Sydney Harbour in the background.



On Sunday I attended a free macaron making class with Jean-Michel Raynaud, the Production & Business Development Manager of Baroque. It wasn't really a class as it wasn't hands on for us but then it was free, so I'm not complaining ;) It was to help promote his actual upcoming macaron (and other dessert) making classes.







Overall I enjoyed it but I have to say that the organisers did a very very poor job of it all. I have seen cooking demonstrations like this before and all of them were far superior.

For one thing, you couldn't see what he was doing at all. I was sitting more towards the back but even so, you really need an overhead camera (or mirror) and the camera was placed on the back wall so all you could see were the people blocking the view of the table! Not only that, the television screens were just too small for an audience of that size.

I also got the feeling that Jean-Michel was nervous and/or very conscious of the time as I found that he spoke way too quickly and combined with a very strong French accent, made him a bit hard to understand. I'm sure it'd be better in one of his classes with far less people. This is not a criticism of him at all but more a criticism of the organisation of the event.

The hostess was pretty good. She was friendly and informative but she had a very strong American accent which... I'm sure annoying is the wrong word to use, more like... distracting.

But, the worst part was, the staff of the event (a catering/event company) started giving out the pre-made macarons and I think they would have got into a lot of trouble later as they gave them ALL out. They started from the front and since there weren't enough for everyone, they'd run out about halfway through the crowd. Then once they opened a new platter (different flavour) they'd start at the front again instead of where they finished off so the people at the front got 4-5 and I only tasted one :( This was highly disappointing. Not only that, I got there a good half hour before the show started and the people who got there at the last minute and stood by the door ended up tasting more as well because the staff members distributed them to the standing people first sometimes. When I first arrived they were serving water and walked past me so many times and ignored me. I just got the feeling that the staff/waiters didn't really know what they were doing as they had never done an event like this before. I also got the feeling they tended to cater more for the older people more and perhaps ignored me because I looked young... I don't know!!

The "30 days of home and entertaining" event goes for 30 days during the whole of April. I wanted to go to more events but considering the poor management and organisation I don't think I will. The location was also not very good. It was situated in a tiny, short and narrow little lane, nowhere near a train station and without ample car parking either.

The class took well over an hour, yet I didn't really learn anything that I didn't already know. I think there was too much time wasted with getting the audience members to help or maybe there was just too much to explain/do in the time allocated. I'm not sure. It wouldn't stop me from registering in a class though but it all depends on how much it costs and it's not advertised on their website yet.

I still don't think I've tried every flavour but my favourites are the ones recommended to me by the staff: pistachio (with sour cherry), chocolate, salted caramel and also the runner's up strawberry. I didn't think the jasmine had much of a taste and the blueberry or grape (I can't remember.. it was a purplish colour) was way too strong/sweet. I also tasted a morcel of a passionfruit flavoured one at the show and that was pretty good too but one really must try them all. The overall most amazing has to be the salted caramel though! :)

Il est très bon !

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