A macaron or French macaroon is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. There is some variation in whether the term macaron or macaroon is used, and the related coconut macaroon is often confused with the macaron. In English, some bakers have adopted the French spelling of macaron for the meringue-based item to distinguish the two. In a Slatearticle on the topic, Stanford professor of linguistics and computer science Dan Jurafsky describes how the two confections have a shared history, also shared with macaroni(Italian maccheroni). Prof. Jurafsky notes that French words ending with "-on" that were borrowed into English in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually spelled with "-oon" (for example: balloon, cartoon, platoon). In an older version of this article, while mostly using the term "macaron" for the meringue-based item, Prof. Jurafsky also distinguishes the two using the terms "Parisian macaroon" and "coconut macaroon". Many bakeries continue to use the term "macaroon". A typical macaron is presented with a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two such cookies, akin to a sandwich cookie. The confection is characterized by a smooth squared top, a ruffled circumference—referred to as the "foot" (or "pied")—and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth. Macarons can be found in a wide variety of flavors that range from traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to unusual (foie gras, matcha).