Thoothukudi macaroon

Sugar confections as light as air and crisp to the palette...few can resist such a sweet treat...while succeeding in getting the texture and temperature right while baking Meringues....the macaroon (different from the french Macaron) especially the Thuthukudi macaroon brings a completely different taste experience in texture and in flavour ! While it still retains the airy crispiness of the Meringue,the nuttiness from the ground cashews is so delicious that you find your hand involuntarily dipping into the box for another bite of exploding tastes and textures...that can only be a Thoothukudi Macaroon !

Yes,lucky me...a big bag of these delicious macaroons arrived at our doorstep along with wishes for a very happy Diwali...surrounded by loving family and friends,it could only be that ! Did I stop with eating just one ,you ask...i would be lying if I said yes ;) !!!! Thank goodness there are many others who love this amazing Thuthukudi macaroon as much as I do....otherwise I could very well do justice to the lot myself ! If you are tempted looking at the picture and my description,I'm glad because you should get some delivered to your doorstep,some things in life just have to be experienced and this is one of them,for sure !!!
This recipe is from an article in The Hindu...where they met the master bakers and tasted this yummy morsel of confectionery !

HOW IT’S MADE

Ingredients

Eggs 12 to 15

Cashew nuts (Some recommend 1/4 kg)

Sugar 1/2 kg.

Method

Powder cashew nuts, set aside. Crack eggs and separate the whites ensuring not a single drop of yolk falls in. With an egg beater, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl. When they turn frothy, start adding sugar little by little while continuing to vigorously whip up egg whites. Keep beating till the mixture rises into stiff peaks. Gently fold in the powdered cashews. Scoop batter into a stiff paper cone and squeeze cone to shape pointed macaroons. These macaroons are generally baked in firewood ovens, but baking them in electric ovens at 70 degrees may also achieve a similar result.

" Unlike other Indian pedas with ethnic flavours, the Thoothukudi macaroon is a European export and a vestige of colonisation, albeit reinvented in a unique shape. For around the world, the macaroon is mostly flat and filled with almonds, chocolate or coconut; only in Thoothukudi, it is stuffed with cashew and shaped into a cone with a round base, bulging middle and a pointed peak."-The Hindu archives
Just 3 ingredients...no butter,no oil,more the technique involved in creating a treat so delicious that it is coveted by hundreds of people on a daily basis...1kg costs about rs.600 on an average...not a street food says the master baker,this is high quality confectionery traditionally baked in wood ovens !

Thoothukudi or Tuticorin as it was also referred to still continues to have the greatest turnover of these amazing macaroons,while many have tried to set up bakeries in Chennai and Bangalore along with master bakers,to make these macaroons,they insist that it just does not taste the same...maybe it's all in the air...the magical air of Thoothukudi ;)))...do buy them and store them in an airtight container ,they go soft in a few minutes if kept open...so container to mouth is my suggestion...well your hands need a workout too ! :D ENJOY !!!