Tuticorin Macaroon, an Indian twist to a European Confectionary

Tuticorin Macaroon

An Indian twist to a European Confectionary

Also see: FAM Trip of Tamil Nadu

A macaroon is a small cake or biscuit-like confectionary item made with egg white, sugar and ground almond. It has an Italian and French origin and over the years it has made its way to different parts of the world.

Tuticorin Macaroon

Each country and region that has adopted the macaroon has modified it by using easily available local raw materials. The ground almond has often been replaced with ground cashew nuts or even coconut powder. Some have also added a dash of honey to provide an extra dose of sweetness.

Tuticorin Macaroons ready to be placed inside the oven

It was the Portuguese who introduced macaroon to India. It came via Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and reached the extreme southern part of the country.

Probably it was port of Tuticorin which first got the taste of the exotic European confectionary item.

As almond was not readily available in south India it was replaced with Cashew a local nut that grew in abundance along the Indian coast.

This gave rise to the Tuticorin Macaroon and that confectionary legacy continues to this day. Today several bakeries in Tuticorin still manufacture the macaroon following the same century old process but they use proper health and hygiene guidelines to turn it into an export quality item.

Tuticorin Macaroons inside the oven

The process is simple and starts with the grounding the cashew nuts. But there is a trick.

The grounding is down in two different batches. The first one produces a coarse cashew nut powder while the second lot has a finer texture.

The two types of grounded cashew nut provide a crunchy taste to the final product. The two types of cashew nut powders are then mixed with sugar in an electric mixture.

Meanwhile the egg white is separated from the yolk and stored separately. The egg white is then mixed with the mixture of ground sugar and cashew nuts. This is done by hand and is known as folding and adds air space in the mixture.

Tuticorin Macaroons ready to be packed

This gives a fluffy appearance to the final product. The mixing continues till the mixture gets a foam-like appearance.

Finally, the mixture is ready and is poured in piping cones. The Tuticorin Macaroons have a spiral cone like shape and have more resemblance with modok than the traditional disc like macaroons.

Finally the spiral cones like macaroons are put inside the open for slow baking. The baking takes about 6 hours and the temperature is maintained at 1520 C. Finally the product is ready it is packed in airtight packs and ready for sale in different parts of the country and beyond.

The Tuticorin Macaroon has a fluffy texture with a crunchy appearance. It is white in colour as no added flavor and colour is added. It also looks totally different from its foreign cousin and comes at a much lower price. The European version is mostly sold in cake shops of five star hotels and highly end bakeries and comes with a high price tag but the Tuticorin version comes at a throwaway price. A packet generally consist of 45 gms and holds about 15 macaroons and comes at a price of ₹ 55 much lower than its European counterpart.

Tuticorin Flamingos: Tuticorin is also known for its salt production and the slat pans attract a lot of migratory birds including the Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus)

More on:

Tuticorin Flamingos

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Note:

• This blog post is part of a FAM (Familiarization) Tour organized by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC)

More on:

Tamil Nadu FAM

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