The Madeleine I Didn't Expect Much From

Madeleines are kind of 'plain' in the world of sweets, aren't they? They don't have the glamour of a cake, and they aren't addictive like potato chips. If someone asked me if I'd spend my own
money to buy one, honestly, I'd usually pass and think, 'If I'm buying something, I'd rather have chocolate.'

But you know, when I was swamped with work and at my limit, thinking, 'I can't do this anymore, my brain is melting...', I suddenly decided to peel open a bag.

The moment I opened the bag, the rich scent of butter wafted out. That's just unfair. It felt like my bleak desk was instantly transformed into an old-fashioned coffee shop.

When I took a bite, the surface had a slightly sticky, sweet layer, while the inside was surprisingly crumbly. That feeling of the moisture in your mouth being perfectly absorbed... and then,
I washed it down with black coffee.

'...Ah, this is it. Perfect..'

The moment that rich butter flavor lingering in my throat melted away with the coffee. That was pure happiness.

If this had been a delicate macaron, I might have felt like I had to eat it elegantly, and I wouldn't have been able to breathe such a deep sigh of relief.

The unpretentious 'embrace' of the madeleine, or rather, that sense of comfort like being back at my parents' house,
slowly seeped into my frayed heart.

Reading this now, aren't you thinking, 'Oh, I might want to taste that madeleine texture again after a long time...'?

If I had tried to write about the 'history of the madeleine' or the 'golden ratio for a delicious madeleine,' I would have stopped after three lines. You can find that stuff on Google in a second, anyway.💦

But, 'how a plain madeleine I happened to receive saved me when I was tired from work' is something only I can write in the whole world. This is exactly what it means to focus on 'what kind of words you use to convey something, rather than what you are conveying.'

It could be a flower blooming on the side of the road, or the filling of an onigiri you ate during your lunch break.

I realized once again that it makes for a great Note article just by putting your own unique warmth into words—saying 'This is how I felt!'—instead of trying to teach the 'correct answer.'


See, you want to eat a madeleine now, don't you?
If you'd like, tell me about a food you've had recently that was plain but really saved you!

Well then, 🍡✨