My Big Mac Fiasco

Procrastination is the biggest thief of time...so we were taught, in school, by my geography teacher, who also turned out to be a cult leader, who was arrested (maybe it was ISA) weeks before our SPM finals. Yeah, I must've gotten a C5 or C6 for Geografi. (or was it called Ilmu Alam).

But I digress before I've even started. A sure way to fail essay writing. An introductory paragraph with NO BEARING at all to the main story line. Well, after spending good money a few months back, on a macaron class, at THE COOKING HOUSE, I STILL hadn't gotten around to actually trying to make it. It's rather arduous and tedious really. According to the instructress, it is an EXACT science. 180 gm means just that, not 182, or 177gm.... (how did they make macarons before the invention of digital scales? TELL ME?), and 175C has to be just that. Egg whites need to be sitting for at least 5 days in advance, out of their shells. (in a container, obviously). You cannot make them less sweet, by reducing the sugar. It is like the neurosurgery of the baking world. Precision, no room for error, ..... hence, it was with great reluctance that I attempted this dangerous feat.

An earlier attempt was aborted before it could even begin, because my brilliant maid was wondering why the egg whites were sitting in the fridge for 4 days, and used them up in a giant omelette.

Finally, the stars were somewhat aligned, with no pavlova orders requiring egg whites, and my eggs finally got their 5 day spa treatment, and complete rest.

Sometimes, you know from the onset things have gone awry. I had this psychic feeling already. And laziness and denial did not help. I knew there were lumps of solidified sugar in the batter, and yet, like Malaysia denying it is in recession, I continued to fill the piping bag with the batter, hoping that somehow, it'll sort itself out. Anyway, the batter itself also seemed all wrong.

Well, I managed to pipe about 30 or so, before KABOOOM, the entire thing exploded in my face.....there was chocolate macaron batter everywhere.....it was as if there had been a nuclear blast in Chocolateville.... I could almost hear little cocoa beans screaming for their lives.

To cut a long story short, here's my feeble first attempt:

Some of the macs, that almost turned out....there were massive cracks, that makes the surface of the moon look like a new born baby's bottom.....






And behold, the remnants of the batter that didn't make it, were scraped off the walls and plonked into ONE BIG MAC!



Actually taste wise, it was okay. What a waste of good dark chocolate. Sheesh.
Back to the drawing board, and time to start saving eggs again. Anyone wants my yolks?

Magical Macarons

My first shock, regarding these desserts, was the spelling. I always thought it had a double O, like carTOON, bufFOON, but I guess I was wrong. In fact, macaroons, according to Wikipedia, are different from Macarons, just like a CarTON is different from a CarTOON. However, I think by and large, no one really cares, and in fact, even the advertisement in the Cooking House said Macaroon. Heck, even Laduree, the Mecca of Macaroons, spells them with a double "O", in their website. (Incidentally, the Laduree ones look terribly oorgasmic)

I only ever recall eating the ones from Lemon Garden, Shangrila, and they were horrible. Enough to give you diabetes from one nibble, and completely unsubtle taste.

As I've always been very curious to know HOW these little biscuits are piped to such perfection and such circular shapes, I was thrilled to see the Cooking House feature this class, by a French lady no less. I apparently cajoled Ciki, into coming with me, as we both had RM100 vouchers from Cooking House to be utilised. And, the class was on a WEEKDAY!!! Yay. I love weekday classes. Just tell the office, I'm going for a course.

The instructress, Chef Nathalie Arberfeuille, has an aura of Chefdom about her. You straightaway feel you are in the correct hands. It's kinda like going for boxing lessons with Muhammad Ali, as opposed to going for singing lessons with Mawi. It helps, with that sexay French accent....it sends shiversss up my spine....

Everytime I go to the Cooking House, I feel very at home. To my surprise, the class was packed. (aiya, these people all no need to work one ah). Fortunately, I was not the only rose amongst the thorns, as there was another chappie there attending as well. (But he professional chef).

First, we were briefed about the sensitivities of the project. Apparently these are very sensitive, precise biscuits, with very low tolerance for mistakes, or inaccuracy, temperature, etc. When she says 118C, its 118C, not 121, or 115....make no mistake. 75gms of egg white is SEVENTY FIVE GRAMS, don't try to be a smart alec and allow 78gm. Phwah.....sounds like some people I know..



She looks a bit like Julie Andrews hor! I felt like I was in the Sound of Music. Minus the music. And annoying small children. And nuns.



Check out Ciki...she looks like she's racing with the other girl to see who can Mac-simize their Macs...pump it Ciki Pump It...yeah....actually, I meant Pipe it...

This fella here is the raison d'etre for Ciki's presence at the class. (by her own admission) Debonair and youthful chef Ryan Khang.



It really is a miracle of physics, I reckon, how the batter just spreads evenly to form perfect circles.





And look at those baked biscuits...amazing how there seem to be two distinct layers.


Dang, previously not a fan, just looking at these while I'm writing is making me hungry. Who'd have thought.



Hey, the ganache filling is valrhona chocolate okay. I reckon, it would taste good any which way!!!


Part of the process was to find each biscuit a matching mate. It was almost like a mass Korean cult wedding. Pairs of macs waiting to be tied together in holy matrimony.




I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.





I am now a macaronian. A convert, to the macaron religion. The ethereal light melt in the mouth biscuit, albeit a bit sweet, is complemented by the dark valrhona ganache. Divine.

However, not all macs are created equal. One of my classmates told me that this was not the first macaroon class she was attending coz she wasn't satisfied with the previous ones. Wow, talk about commitment. Even she was impressed with Nathalie's product.



We also had coconut and pistachio macaroons, but we missed the assembly line, coz Ciki, Ryan and I snuck out for lunch...which is another story altogether.

These babies taste better after a few days in an airtight container in the fridge. That's what the Chef told us, and the Chef was correct.

Now, to find a recipe that needs lots of yolks, so I can use the whites for my first attempt!!!!