Where to eat a good lemon meringue pie?
Beneath its cloudy crown, the lemon tart is a feat of balance, between the tang of the citrus fruit, the lightness of the meringue and the finesse of the pastry. A classic where every detail counts.
While lemon has been flavoring pies since the Renaissance, lemon meringue pie is a hybrid creation of the XIXᵉ century. Its innovation, the famous " lemon cream " or " Lemon Curd " is a British specialty, attested as early as 1844 by Lady Bury, a court memorialist. But the real turning point was Swiss and American: Elizabeth Goodfellow, a Philadelphia pastry chef, popularized lemon curd in her cooking school as early as 1800. The idea of crowning the whole with a meringue, however, is a European tradition. It is attributed to Swiss pastry chef Alexandre Frehse, inventor of the modern recipe for vacherin glacé in the canton of Fribourg. The fat-rich shortbread dough was chosen for its ability to remain crisp despite the creamy texture.
Around 1860, the recipe found its perfect balance and became a tea room classic, combining French pastry technique with Anglo-Saxon taste for tangy creams. It wasn't until advances in refrigeration during the Trente Glorieuses that it became the modern alternative to other, denser traditional entremets.
La Tarte mentonnaise lemon meringue tart
Made in front of customers, this new brand's recipe draws on the source of excellence: its lemons, organic and local, from the Ferme des Citrons in Menton, belonging to the same group. Another special feature is the shortcrust pastry and square format.
- Price: €9 individual
- Where? 24 rue Saint-Michel, 06500 Menton
Lemon meringue tart from Brasserie M, at the Tsanteleina Hotel
Pastry chef Antoine Delannoy has thought of the needs of the lactose-intolerant by replacing the milk in the pastry cream with lemon juice. A hazelnut shortbread base, a tangy lime gel, a soft yuzu lemon marshmallow and a crisp meringue with yellow and green lemon zest tantalize the senses.
- Price: €14 per slice
- Where? 1040 avenue Olympique, 73150 Val d'Isère
Robin Girard's lemon meringue tart
Four years of uninterrupted success for the house's best-seller: sweet pastry, almond cream, lime and yellow lemon cream, flavored with basil, and low-sugar marshmallow meringue, poached on a turntable for a rounded effect. The ultimate refinement: a lemon confit and fresh lemon segments adorn the center.
- Price: €5.20 a piece
- Where? 27 rue de l'Église, 50700 Valognes
Du Pain et des miettes lemon meringue tart
In this interpretation by Julien Lecuru, pastry chef to Michelin-starred chef Julien Allano, the tart's base is a Breton shortbread with semi-salted butter, for extra chewiness and crumbliness. Garnished with a yellow lemon Lemon Curd, using zests and segments of lemon peeled raw, it is covered with a voluptuous, slightly " burnt" Italian meringue.
- Price: €4.50 per individual tart
- Where? 4 rue Victor Hugo, 84480 Bonnieux
ABRA's lemon meringue tart
A star of social networks, the highly creative Tal Spiegel has broken with codes by imagining a signature tart in the shape of a juicer, playful and Instagrammable. Constructed with a sweet pastry base, lemon-vanilla confit, lemon cream, Italian meringue, white chocolate and yuzu, it leaves no one indifferent!
- Price: €9.80 per individual tart
- Where? 1 rue des Mauvais Garçons, 75004 Paris
Restaurant des Rois' Menton lemon tart
an exceptional citrus composition unfolds on a delicately thin, golden shortbread crust: a Menton lemon sorbet with peppery Batak berries, a bergamot juice gel, a lemon cream with kefir leaves and a delicate tea-infused Italian meringue.
- Price: €28 a slice
- Where? 5 boulevard du Maréchal-Leclerc, 06310 Beaulieu-sur-Mer
- See Gault&Millau's review of Restaurant des Rois - La Réserve de Beaulieu
Grain's lemon meringue tart
The version developed by Nicolas Gruel, founder and manager of the company, quickly became a must. The sweet pastry, topped with a Sicilian lemon cream, is covered in the center with a tangy lemon and agar-agar gel, for extra pep. Classic but hardly sweet, the Italian meringue is poached in a crown.
- Price: €4.90 per individual tart
- Where? 43 rue Capdeville, 33000 Bordeaux
Lemon meringue tart from Atelier Gato
Chef Nicolas Haelwyn's obsession? Caramel! Present in his lemon tart, enriched with hazelnut gianduja, it enhances the organic lemon cream, and this madeleine cookie soaked in fresh lemon juice, sandwiched between the sweet hazelnut pastry and Lemon Curd. The whole thing is topped with Italian meringue, piped with a blowtorch.
- Price: €25 for 4/6 people
- Where? 9 boulevard Saint-Antoine, 78000 Versailles
- See Gault&Millau's review ofAtelier Gato
