Thoothukudi macaroon (or Tuticorin) is a type of

macaroon A macaroon ( ) is a small cake or biscuit, typically made from ground almonds (the original main ingredient), coconut or other nuts (or even potato), with sugar and sometimes flavourings (e.g. honey, vanilla, spices), food colouring, glacé che ...

from the port town of Thoothukudi, in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Traditional European macaroons are made from egg whites, sugar, and ground

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s. In Thoothukudi the almond was replaced with locally available

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

History

Thoothukudi macaroons are basically European macaroons Indianised in Thoothukudi.

Macaroon A macaroon ( ) is a small cake or biscuit, typically made from ground almonds (the original main ingredient), coconut or other nuts (or even potato), with sugar and sometimes flavourings (e.g. honey, vanilla, spices), food colouring, glacé che ...

originated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

but has made its way to different parts of the world. Many of these regions have modified the recipe by adding or modifying the ingredients. Some of the regions have added grated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

to add a local flavour. In Thooththukkudi almond was replaced with the locally available cashew. The Portuguese introduced Macaroon in India. It came via Ceylon, now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and reached Thooththukkudi, a port town in extreme south

Method

Several bakeries in Thoothukudi manufacture the macaroon using the same century-old method. The process starts with the grinding of cashew nuts. The grinding is done in two batches. The first batch produces coarse cashew nut powder while the second batch produces a fine powder. The two types of paste adds to the texture and taste of the final product. The two types of cashew powder are mixed with ground sugar in an electric mixer. Meanwhile, the egg white is separated from the yolk and stored. Finally the egg white is mixed with the mixture of ground cashew nuts and sugar. This is done by hand. The process is known as folding and adds air in the mixture. This gives the final product a fluffy texture. Finally, the mixture is ready and is poured into pipping cones. The Thooththukkudi macaroon has a spiral cone-like appearance and resemblance more of ''

modak Modak (Marathi: मोदक; Japanese: 歓喜団; Thai: โมทกะ or ขนมต้ม; Malaysian: Kuih modak; Indonesian: Kue modak; Burmese: မုန့်လုံးရေပေါ်), also referred to as Koḻukattai (கொழ ...

'' than its European counterpart. It follows a slow baking process for six hours with a temperature of 152 °C.

References

cashew dishes cookies Indian cuisine Tamil cuisine Thoothukudi {{food-stub