The question of fat was raised yesterday in an email. Specifically, where’s the fat in the macaron cookie recipe below? Don’t most cookies us butter as a base? The answer is that the fat is in there, just not in the form of dairy fat. The fat that macaroons contain — and they contain a […]

Mexico Bob reminds me that in Mexico “coco” is also slang for “head” and also for “ghost” or “boogeyman”.

People love to mock the Professor on Gilligan’s Island for all his goofy coconut contraptions. I remember one episode where he made a transistor radio, and then there was the time Mr. Howell had those fainting spells, and the Professor built him that coconut shell MRI machine. Sure it was all a little far-fetched, but […]

Opinion is sharply divided on where the coconut originated, though the bulk of the evidence favors Southeast Asia and especially India. Because the coconut seems to have quite a few close relations in Central America, especially in the region of Panama, some cite the New World as its place of origin. But then there are […]

It was brought to my attention by no less than eleven emailers last night that apples are not drupes. Eight of those further pointed out that coconuts are not the only drupes whose seeds are more desirable than their fruit. Almonds are also drupes, I learned, as is coffee. What can I say except that […]

The coconut isn’t actually a nut, but the stone from a type of fruit known as a drupe. Collectively, we eat a lot of drupes. Nectarines, mangoes and olives spring to mind. Yet the coconut is one of only a very few whose seeds are more desirable than their fruit. Not that eating that seed […]

That’s a bit of a toughie. The macaroon springs from the macaron, which means the origination point of the macaroon is somewhere in Italy. The French macaron was developed sometime in the 18th Century, so it’s safe to assume that the idea of the macaron/macaroon had pretty well spread around all of Europe by the […]

It turns out last week’s project was perfectly timed from a marketing standpoint, as Starbucks is preparing to test-market French macarons in many of their stores. To believe the reviews, the macarons are decent if not great. They are, however, very reasonably priced. Whereas macarons in Paris can cost several dollars each, Starbucks will sell […]