Long before it became a Parisian icon, the macaron travelled a long way to get here, and its exact starting point is still debated by historians today. Some point to possible Middle Eastern influences, others to Italy. What's certain is that the word appears in French sources by the mid-16th century, and that the macaron we know today, two shells joined by a filling, took shape much later, closely tied to Ladurée's own history.
THE MACARON'S UNCERTAIN ORIGINS
Where it all began, maybe
The word "macaron" is generally traced back to the Italian maccarone or maccherone, an old term referring to a fine paste. Almond-based sweets and biscuits had circulated in Italy and elsewhere in Europe since the Middle Ages, although the precise origins of the biscuit later known as the macaron remain uncertain.
Some food historians and writers point even further afield, suggesting that the macaron may share part of its ancestry with medieval Middle Eastern almond-and-sugar confectionery traditions. These traditions may have influenced European pastry-making through Sicily, trade and wider cultural exchange. The connection is plausible but far from settled, and it doesn't establish a direct line from one specific Middle Eastern pastry to the modern macaron.
In other words, the macaron doesn't have one confirmed birthplace. It has several candidates, and probably a much longer, more layered history than any single legend suggests.
THE CATHERINE DE' MEDICI LEGEND
A popular story, worth a caveat
The most widely repeated account credits the arrival of the macaron in France to Catherine de' Medici, who is said to have brought Italian culinary traditions with her when she married the future Henri II in 1533. This story appears often, including in institutional and promotional sources, but it isn't firmly documented. Historians note that almond-based preparations were already known in France before this date, and that no contemporary source clearly documents a single moment of introduction.
What is better documented is the appearance of the word "macaron" in French sources by the mid-16th century, notably in Rabelais's Le Quart Livre in 1552, followed in later sources by recognisable recipes and increasingly distinct regional traditions. Treat the Catherine de' Medici story as a well-known tradition rather than a settled fact, one of several stories that have grown up around the macaron's early history.
THE MACARON ACROSS FRENCH TOWNS
Regional traditions take shape
By the 17th and 18th centuries, distinct almond-biscuit traditions had emerged across France. Saint-Émilion's recipe is traditionally linked to Ursuline nuns, while Saint-Jean-de-Luz claims macarons were served at Louis XIV's 1660 wedding. Nancy and Cormery developed their own traditions, though, like much of macaron history, these accounts remain difficult to verify. Their simple ingredients and good keeping qualities likely helped spread them. Nancy's tradition is the best known: according to Maison des Sœurs Macarons, two former nuns began selling almond macarons after the French Revolution in 1793, though historians note the evidence is incomplete. Nancy's single, round almond biscuit remains distinct from the modern filled macaron and is still made today.
Two shells, one filling
TOWARD THE MODERN PARISIAN MACARON
The double-shelled macaron we know today developed long after the original biscuit. Filled versions appeared in Paris during the 19th century, with some records dating back to the 1830s, well before the elegant, ganache-filled version gained prominence in the 20th century.According to our history, Pierre Desfontaines (second cousin of our founder Louis-Ernest Ladurée) created the house's signature double-shelled recipe in the 1930s. While other figures like pâtissier Claude Gerbet are also linked to this innovation, Ladurée played the definitive role in popularizing the Parisian macaron worldwide. Founded as a bakery in 1862, our house gradually transformed over the following decades into the iconic pâtisserie and tea room it is today.
Where the story stands today
A HISTORY STILL BEING WRITTEN
From uncertain beginnings, possibly shaped by Middle Eastern confectionery traditions, possibly Italian, to regional French traditions and eventually the refined Parisian macaron, this pastry's history is less a straight line than a patchwork of traditions, legends and craftsmanship built up over centuries.
At Ladurée, the house continues to present its macarons as heirs to the Parisian style it helped popularise during the 20th century: two delicate almond shells surrounding a carefully balanced filling.
