Tried these pearly-white macaroons from Thoothukudi?

These conical-shaped sweet treats have cashews as a main ingredient

The sun rises over Thoothukudi, the 'Pearl City' of Tamil Nadu, and the fragrance from the local bakeries wafts through the air as trays of freshly-baked macaroons are pulled out from the wood-fired oven.

Some of my fondest childhood memories of Thoothukudi, also known as Tuticorin, are of these ivory coloured, crisp, airy, and delicate macaroons. What fascinated me as a kid was its seashell shape, its crumbly yet melt-in-the-mouth texture and the richness and nuttiness that comes from the finely powdered cashew. In those heady days of zero-calorie consciousness, I'd gobble at least five to six of this ivory goodness at one go.

Macaroons, often lauded as a French delicacy, are of Italian origin—the name 'macaroon' comes from the Italian word 'Maccarone'. Originally, macaroons were made from almond paste, egg whites, and sugar, but Thoothukudi macaroons, often called 'Magruns' by locals, are rich in cashew paste instead of almonds.

Macaroons are one of the fastest-selling items at the Dhanalakshmi bakery, founded by Arunachalam Pillai 70 years ago.

Velammal Arunachalam, the third daughter of Pillai, who's almost 60 years old, has been running the bakery for over three decades after her father's demise.

"My father used to work in a confectionery at Trichy and Chennai much before independence and picked up the art of making Magruns from the foreigners there and popularised it here in Thoothukudi," she said.

"There's no secret ingredient, but a secret technique of blending each ingredient into the cone-shaped confection. The high-grade cashews we source and grind in-house also make a difference. The perfect taste and texture depend on knowing when to add each ingredient."

Egg whites and sugar are whisked together for 10 minutes till stiff peaks are formed. Then, cashew crumbs are added and gently folded into this cloudy mix. This mixture is then put into a cone made with butter paper and squeezed into conical shapes with little peaks on greased trays. These trays then go into the traditional wood fire oven.

Usually, the magrun trays are placed in the wood-fired furnace after all the items like puffs, cake and buns have been baked, so that the temperature is perfect to bake these little dollops, explains Arunachalam.

(Deepa Shri Rajan is a food, travel and lifestyle blogger and Instagrammer based out of Bengaluru.)

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