Yasaman*

Depending on who's behind the counter, it can be a little daunting shopping at Yasaman. Most of the women who serve are distant and seldom smile. Get over it. You're there for the best walnut macaroons you've ever eaten.

You've read - if you haven't been there to eat them - about the pale pastel-colored macaroons that have become the signature of so many Parisian patissiers. (Laurent Merdy, the French pastry chef at the Blue Duck Tavern on M & 24th Sts NW makes them brilliantly). But the macaroons at Yasaman are gooey yet light and scented with ground walnuts.

The Persian bakery sells plenty of other cookies and pastries, from baklava and other pistachio-stuffed phyllo concoctions to feather-light shortbreads. There's a selection of dried fruits and nuts (though not as good as those at Yekta) and some startling festive cakes covered in colored frosting that seem out of place among the traditional Persian pastries, but probably taste fine.

Yasaman Bakery, Ritchie Center, 785J Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301 762 5416.

Related Ingredients...