Thursday, January 18, 2007

Tissirie

Tisserie is a beautiful patisserie or pastry shop that recently opened on Broadway and 16th Street at the northwest corner of Union Square. The store specializes in classic French cakes and pastries but it also offers artisanal bread and sandwiches on the lunch menu. The owners, brothers Morris and Ronald Harrar decided to open Tisserie in New York City following the success of their first patisserie, St. Honore in their hometown of Caracas, Venezuela.

Tisserie is one of the few places in New York City that makes and sells its own french macarons, which should not to be confused with the American coconut macaroons. Macarons date back to the 18th century and are made with flavored cream fillings sandwiched between two disk-shaped meringue cakes. The meringue cakes are light and delicate, with thin crisp shells and soft cushiony centers; and the fillings are sweet or tart depending on the flavors. The best macarons in the world are reportedly from the reknown patisserie, Laduree in Paris. In Switzerland, macarons are called, luxemburgerli and they are sold by Sprungli.

Do you have a favorite pastry?