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A McConnell book would certainly be worth a look, and Sibley definitely. I'm less optimistic about one from Karen Martini, but here's hoping it'll surprise me. I hope we can get reviews of these when they appear.

I greatly enjoyed reading this, Julian! And thanks for the mention of my macaronic affliction;) Those do, indeed, look like abominations. Hehe.

This is definitely a very useful book and well presented. I've seen it heavily discounted from wholesalers previously (over a year ago) but seems to have been consistently back to normal for some time which is interesting/odd.

I'm wondering if you made more progress on this quest, lapin d'or? I hope so:)

One of two causes: an overly moist filling when filled, or horrendous humidity. Either of those render macarons squidgy, even if they still look robust and multi-textured.

Hi everyone. In recent weeks (feels like months!), I've been working with another long-time eGulleteer, jumanggy, on a book review site - The Gastronomer's Bookshelf. I wanted to find a way to provide a non-commercial space for reviewing culinary works, whilst leaving the informed discussion and exploration of these books for fora like eGullet. We know that many eGulleteers have great book collections and like to share opinions about their favourite titles. What do you look for in reviews of works about food/wine/gastronomy? We've tried to construct a reviewing framework which will work for a broad range of people, with both short and more detailed reviews possible. Importantly (for us) the review system also permits participants to provide links to discussions on sites like eGullet or in the mainstream media. Cheers Duncan thegastronomersbookshelf.com

I echo "Pour some in a glass, add ice cubes & water to taste" but would then hand the glass to a companion, as the stuff makes me want to be violently ill!

I remember living in Scandinavia in the 90s and at the time it was actually easier to find kangaroo in some restaurants there than in Australia. This began to change in the mid-90s, I think, though memory is fuzzy. I still find it interesting that although it is fairly common in Australia now, and I can get kangaroo meat at the supermarket, it would be an exaggeration to say that kangaroo has been embraced by restaurateurs. It's leanness presents problems, needless to say (though more for restaurant menu concepts than for home eating), and it seems most popular in places where a steak with upmarket mash is appropriate.

In the fridge, filled macarons will keep for about a week in reasonable condition (the shells may become softer). Unfilled, they do keep for longer, but become increasingly chewy. Try to bring filled macarons up to room temperature in a sealed container if it's humid outside. Flavouring shells can be difficult because they aren't great flavour vehicles. Citrus peel works well, as do some essences, but many spices and herbs will just dissipate.

Hi everyone. While doing some random surfing of Wikipedia, it struck me how patchy the content is in the area of food and dining. For Australia (where I am), numerous prominent chefs, personalities, foods and more are missing, but the problem is much broader than that. Some countries are very strongly represented, some very poorly despite large populations or informed dining cultures. Interestingly, I blogged about this a few days ago and the response has been almost dead silence... so I thought it better to bring the issue to the most informed venue on the internet. Whether we like Wikipedia or not, many eGulleteers have the knowledge to make it a better, more accurate source of info for everyone. Or, as I put it elsewhere: Think of it as a service to journalism… cos we know that with so few writers and editors left at various major papers, the quality of plagiarisable sources has to be at its best.

You would spritz the hot tray. The idea is to soften the stuck, sticky bits. Leave the parchment to get too damp, however, and the macarons will begin to dissolve. As with so much about macarons, the utility of this technique depends on how your oven cooks macarons. If one's macarons have very very sticky bottoms (typically happens if heat below the tray is weak), then wetting the parchment may not help removal much.

Hi tan319. I look forward to your impressions of the book, as I'm sure many others will too! Titanium oxide is a food colouring (E171). I would hazard a guess that by whitening the basic batter, it provides a better palette for the other colourings. Alas, the manifesto you mention is for masonry (maçonnerie) rather than macarons

Hi all. I'm having a crisis of indecision about heading to the Bocuse d'Or 2009 (and other competitions) in Lyon (Jan 24-28, 2009) and the umbrella trade event, Sirha. I was surprised to find no reports from any attendees in previous years (or my search skills suck ). Can anyone give sage advice about the experience? I've been to Lyon before, so the city itself won't be a novelty (though I do like it a lot).

Aussies don't automatically convert from US to Aus cups, especially with most not understanding the imperial/US customary measures anymore. I'd strongly go for either "US cups" or put a note under each recipe saying the cup used for the recipe is a standard US cup of 237ml.

You might have seen the news... Pierre Hermé has a new book (softcover) devoted entirely to macarons and their insides. Released a few days ago, I'm wondering if anyone has seen it, read it, played with it. Opinions? Fellow eGulleteer jumanggy pointed me to this article in L'Express (in French) which includes an interview and some of the recipes. The basic batter in this book will be familiar to readers of some of his other books and to that in Christophe Felder's book on macarons. PH's technique seems to have changed, however, now advising cooking at 180C in convection oven, opening the oven twice quickly during cooking (no special dancing required though:P). Although I was excited at the news, i'm not completely convinced I need it in my library... Macaron (Amazon.fr link) Pierre Hermé Agnès Viénot Editions (11 septembre 2008) ISBN-13: 978-2353260355

I wrote about turning them into a delicious trifle-like delight here. Otherwise I just eat them as soft biscuits, sometimes dipped in coffee or hot chocolate.

I'm coming to this thread very late aren't I! Never even saw it. Tsk. I'd say TheSwede's first batch was undermixed. That's been the cause when I've seen such porous shells before. In my experience, humidity causes rapid softening of the cooked shells, but not this sort of porous-shell problem.

Shinboners, Cumulus Inc is definitely attracting heaps of positive attention at the mo!

Lots of people I know are asking the question 'is it worth going?'... It would certainly be interesting to hear what people feel after going. Please do tell us!

I haven't seen this book in English yet, but I think it must be the one that came out in two sizes in French. One *enormous* format and one much smaller, but content was identical (or close to identical). The problem with these books is that they are rarely given the scope to explain process properly and troubleshoot and that was part of the reason I tried to cover more detail on my website. (The link to my site is in my signature.) There are lots of parameters and I'm still discovering some as I have started testing different ovens and other aspects of these little divas (macarons:P).

There are loads of affordable restaurants (ie, low budget) in Canberra, especially in Civic and Dickson. In fact, Canberra is such a disappointment at the other end of the scale that you can be thankful for a good international student population! As I was only there briefly, I'm afraid specific names escape me, but perhaps someone else will come to the rescue. The farmers' market is very good, held in the far north of the city.

Thanks Pedro. I guess I'll just have to try my luck if I can.

This seems almost too trivial to post, but I find no solace on the web or in previous threads on eGullet... so, can anyone tell me the opening hours of the Oriol Balaguer boutique in Madrid? The address, I know, but more than that... his own website reveals little more (though the map is kinda helpful) I'm passing through Madrid on a Friday evening (arr 1930) and Saturday morning and was hoping to find a way of whizzing past to buy a few 'creations' between planes and hotels and train stations!

I'm off to the Out of the Frying Pan talkfest and will be attending many of the Slow Food weekend stuff (just to irritate myself).

Churn, baby, churn! Cultured butter certainly makes the difference, doesn't it! (But I don't think salt is related to water content -- no obvious reason springs to mind.)