I thought, “only in Paris would a pastry shop that seemed to sell mostly meringues coated in cream and chocolate shavings exist, let alone thrive”. We passed by this shop, Aux Merveilleux de Fred, on our way to dinner one evening and stopped to marvel at the confections on display. But we didn’t buy any, promising to return at a later time…
Turns out the pastry chef behind this shop, Frederic Vaucamps, previously trained at Lenotre, and he has elevated what was originally a Belgian dessert to new heights. Light meringues in varying sizes are then coated in whipped cream and rolled in dark chocolate shavings, white chocolate and other flavorings. I can only imagine what they taste like, but they have caused a bit of ruckus since they opened some 6-7 years ago (their first New York store just opened this year).
The shop apparently sells a few other items such as gaufrettes, but I suspect 80-90% of their business is in merveilleux. The design of the shops is hard to describe, perhaps a bit retro, with wide expanses of marble and a ginormous chandelier… It’s the kind of place that would have difficulty in Manila, what with the horrible humidity that would affect the quality of the meringues I would assume. At any rate, if it’s as marvelous as other folks say it is, Mrs. MM and I will definitely have to return to this shop for a taste of les merveilleux, for sure.
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Oh là là !
This is another compelling reason why Paris merits a periodic visit. It is a hotbed of experimental single theme trends, in cuisine, in couture, in cinema, art and music. David Leibovitz posted about éclairs here
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/07/eclairs-in-paris/
Endless sweet and savoury variations on éclair that seem to defy its Chamber’s 20th Century dictionary definition: a cake long on dimension but short on duration.
Footloose, daughter tried to do an eclair tasting (2-3 a day while we were in France) and I have to say, she failed… there were too many other distractions. We had some fabulous eclairs during the attempt… Artisan, these looked really attractive, kind of like our silvanas, but on SERIOUS STEROIDS!
Back to the subject of this post, marvellous whipped cream filled meringue vessels, reminds me first of our familiar Pavlova then of the more distant Viennese Spanische Windtorte which is way more well dressed than the amorphous looking ones showing on the display window. Spanische Windtorte’s shape goes all out for high baroque, some of them seemingly mimicking the gyrating fluted columns of the baldachin in St. Peter’s.
Who would have thought egg whites have so many uses other than masonry bonding agent.
I guess I just have to be content with Sans Rival and Sylvanas for now.. beautiful display!!