September seems to be the perfect month to release a book. Now, I'm not talking just any book either. First, we had Pierre Herme's English Edition of Macaron released on 19 September 2011 and then OMG, Adriano Zumbo, the Willy Wonka of patisserie released a book too.
As somebody who is somewhat keen on making macarons - ummm, is it obvious - I had to absolutely, positively get my hands on these bibles a) before the blogosphere gets hold of them and they all sell out; and b) to learn some more secrets!
The average cook may find these books sitting on their kitchen shelves collecting dust as they involve technique, patience and lots and lots of time. Time is something that we all lack including me but with dogged determination I still churn out little French delicacies albeit not while I'm sick - you just need to be super organised. Some of Zumbo's recipes are super time intensive and include anywhere between 5 -7 different lots of instructions. One recipe may even be spaced over several pages. Pierre's on the hand are repetitive as the instructions for the macaron shells appear in every recipe but hey, the guy has class. And, after all he is THE macaron master so can be excused. Some of the photo's and terminology in Zumbo's book are a tad on the tacky side but the level of detail in his instruction more than compensate for this. Other photo's however, are amazing. It's also fairly obvious that Zumbo agrees that cooking both involves science and art and this is my sentiment exactly.
The book includes sections on zumbarons i.e. macarons, chocolates, pastries, gateaux de voyage, cakes and desserts. It also includes basic recipes and a glossary. What I love about Zumbo, despite the tacky terminology, is that he thinks outside the box and the recipes are quirky and nothing short of amazing. I love the flavour combinations, colour, textural elements and artistic execution. This book is a keeper and pretty much blows most of the other cook books in the market out of the water... sorry guys, but they're just a bit too dull really. My advice - take note of Pierre Herme & Zumbo and add a bit of creative genius!
Nonetheless, I reckon my macaron library is pretty much complete. I've got Laduree Sucre: The Recipes, Pierre Herme the English Edition and now Zumbo.
My extremely busy bee weekend trialled Pierre Herme's gelee and compote concept but now I'm keen to tackle some more demanding recipes contained within Zumbo's book. Zumbo's instructions suit me down to the ground and I'm sure I'll spend many a weekend pouring over the words.
I now have the extremely difficult task of choosing which macaron to make first... chocolate h2O, cherry coconut, vegemite, pandan coconut, chocolate and peanut butter jelly, salt and vinegar or rice pudding? There's quite a few more macaron recipes too but you'll just have to order the book to find out what they are.
Recommended retail price for Zumbo is about $50 but you can get it from Borders for $34.95 with free delivery (within Australia).
Anyway, I'm off to the kitchen to make maybe salted butter popcorn or rice pudding... or even both. Make sure you come back soon to check them out.
p.s. My macaron recipe closely resembles Pierre Herme and I've noticed that Zumbo's does too... accordingly, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Also, if you're having trouble trying to find the ingredients listed in the glossary visit my post Macaron Ingredients Online.
