my first bite of adriano zumbo’s blackcurrant macaron was whispery quiet. it was definitely fruity, though mild, and there was a barely discernable tinge of saltiness. i was sufficiently surprised to look down into the cross-section, where i discovered a chocolate filling.
now that it had my full attention, i took another bite. this time an immense wave of blackcurrantness hit me. i tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to pry the biscuit apart to see if there was a hidden jammy layer, but no. it was mixed into the chocolate. so very, very genius.
so yes, the macaron was like ribena, as i had hoped, but chocolate ribena, which was even better.
in the late 70s, when i was five, some talent scouts came round to tiny tots kindergarten, looking for kids to appear in a ribena tv ad. they chose me! i was paired up with a boy in my class, and i remember traipsing round a park in the hot, hot tropical sun one day, doing test shots. and then a week or so before the actual shoot was scheduled, my father decided that we all had to go away on family vacation. my mother tells this story to this day: “and you know, the producers were sooo angry with me…”
a couple of months later, the ad was on tv, with the boy and another girl in my class, swinging on the swings, reciting their lines, running off to get a glass of nutritious ribena… i wonder if my life would have been different today, if i had done that ad.
the only other thing i remember from kindergarten is that one day after school, as i stood at the chainlink fence by the driveway, waiting to be picked up by my grandmother, my nose bled. oh, the horror.
19 Comments
too much. all too much. the macaron. a possible future as a ribena berry girl!
the macaron reminds me of my courting period with the boy when we would have long draining conversations on the telephone. i was going through my phase of drinking ribena poppers and eating blueberry bagels with nutella. also too much!
😀 draining conversations… so romantic! this macaron would be just the grownup thing to graduate to, while you guys sit in front of “america’s next supermodel”, discussing PC vs mac.
i bought a gigantic bar of blueberry chocolate in NZ. perhaps i will have to bring you some squares.
heh … have you been watching supermodel? i don’t like the new time slot. fridays were perfect for trashy tv. clearly i am not their target audience.
blueberry chocolate from nz? that was before melbourne right? and you still have some left over??? wow!
and they were draining…. sometimes all day marathons WITHOUT speaker phone. good lord.
no wonder you needed the high-energy snacks!
supermodel is not as good on sundays. late night friday i could immerse myself undisturbed in trashiness. now it’s in the middle of dinner preparation, and boy just huffs around making disgruntled noises in protest. (meanwhile it’s fine when he wants to watch “top gear” or football.) *grumble*
anyway, all the trashy action is now on “age of love”, no?
Oh my god, sweet ribena chocolate morsels! Where do I get me one of those?
they named the wrong confection after you! or perhaps, there needs to be several raging yoghurt-christened desserts. this could be the one that got away…AGAIN….
yes i get grumbles too. or better yet commentary of the unsavoury kind. yet on monday night striperella is on! confession: i like top gear
i watched a one episode of ‘age of love’ and now i hit my head against the brick wall for entertainment when such levels of desperation strike. cant stand the pou.
i believe this comment may be revealing too much.
MACARON! 😀
gem: oops, i neglected to code a link. you’ll have to move back to sydney for these, i’m afraid. or come to balmain the next time yer in town. you know, if you were still on facebook, you could join the zumbo fanclub. 😉
santos. ah, can’t have ’em all. but perhaps i could be their middle name!
deb! what is striperella!? and ok, i guess i don’t mind “top gear” too much; it’s awright for a car show. but does it have to be on so damn loud? vroooOOOM.
and yes, “age of love” is possibly the worst thing ever on tv.
*i* wonder if my life would have been different if you had been the ribena girl and paved the way for us both. ch. cheat me my…ribena.
‘member when i did the ribena colouring contest and mowmy told the organiser people i had to go to the toilet, then when i came outside, mowmy said, “colour everything. don’t leave any white spaces”; and theni coloured everything and won?? and i got the ribena hamper?? ‘member when mowmy gave away ALL OF IT except a couple of bottles of ribena because all that sugar wasn’t good for me? CH!!!!
you guys talking about america’s next top model is making me want to go and knock on my neighbour’s door to find out if they have a tv. aaaaa
i hope not to tarnish the quality of your blog by mentioning striperella, so i will just say: an animation of a certain bay watch ‘babe’ moonlighting either as a stripper/police officer. either way she in the practice of crime busting. it’s on after south park which drops in and out of favour for me too.
MACARON!
i’m on way to check out the churro place soon. shall report back.
nellicent! i remember the ribena hamper!! i flogot that she gave it away!!! ch. who is cheating whose ribena? you know what i like? fizzy ribena! quick, go and buy some, and then get frenchie to download “top model” for you (make sure he does not confuse with “top gear”) and then you’ll be set. quick!
also, “f a c e b o o k“. see, i have even linked it to make it easier for you to click through and register.
deb: oh, no worries. i am quite capable of lowering the tone around here by mentioning “age of love”, which was just awful last night. awful.
i find i like “south park” better when i watch one out of every four episodes. funnily, i like macaron even if i have eaten three just before.
san churro is in business i think, the doors were open when i walked past at 9 this morning. so… monday? 🙂
i was confused for a second, why would deborah be so emphatic about pasta? ah, it’s MACARON! not MACARONI
Ph and i love macaroni! cheesie macaroni!
MACARON!
ok, sorry friday craziness.
and sans churro is open for bizness. i have a lemon myrtle truffle as proof.
did i just spell cheesie with an i! sorry. must stop with the ! i am now confused.
and not without churro. that was SAN CHURRO
CHURRO!
p.s. i have a new imac for the office! imacaroni!
something in the air in the comments box today… 🙂
new imac! the silver one? this new development in the applesphere makes me think i have to go out and buy a macbook in case they discontinue the nice shiny white plastic and make everything silver.
ummm, no its the white one with the inbuilt camera… but still, so pretty in glistening white. i like the white better too.
Sorry for the hotlink, have removed it
I’ve decided to go on an adventure and get one of my very own.
yay. (get two!) we’ll look out for ya.