Pierre Hermé : the Haute Couture pastry chef

The World’s Best Pastry Chef 2016

Pierre Hermé is pronounced : [Py-air air-meh]

On the 13rd of June, Pierre Hermé received  the title of World’s Best Pastry Chef, in New York. It was awarded by the World’s 50 best Restaurant academy (= 972 gastronomy experts across 5 continents). Each expert submits, by secret ballot, their own personal list of 7 restaurants from around the world. (https://www.facebook.com/PierreHermeLDN/)

During the ceremony, in New York

The picture on the left : The moment Pierre Hermé received the title of World’s Best Pastry Chef  in New York during the The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 award ceremony (13rd of June 2016). (https://www.facebook.com/PierreHermeLDN/)

VIDEO :  Interview with P. Hermé – With English subtitles :

“I consider patisserie as an Art, with capital A. It is a way to express sensitivity the same way music, painting and sculpture do” – Pierre Hermé

Biography : 

• Pierre Hermé was born in 1962, in Alsace (region of Eastern France). He is heir to four generations of Alsatian bakery and pastry-making tradition.
• He started his career at the age of 14, as an apprentice to pastry chef Gaston Lenotre and became a pastry chef by the age of 20.
• At the age of 24, he was heading pastry production at Fauchon ( upscale Parisian food merchant).He worked at Fauchon during 10 years
• Then he worked at Ladurée where he played a key role in turning the company into a global brand. Over his career, Hermé has redefined the macaron, with new techniques and creation of flavor combinations.
• In 1996, he founded Pierre Hermé Paris with Charles Znaty.
• His first boutique opened in Tokyo in 1998, then a Salon de Thé in 2000.
• In 2001, Pierre Hermé opened his first boutique in Paris at 72 rue Bonaparte in the Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood.
• In 2004, Pierre Hermé opened a second shop in Paris at rue de Vaugirard and established a training workshop in coopération with the reputed Ecole Ferrandi run by the Paris Chamber of Commerce.
• In 2005, he opened a chocolate bar in Tokyo and in 2006, a new boutique in Shinjuku Isetan
• Since 2010, his company has been expanding strongly  with several boutiques located in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
• And he now oversees 2 restaurants in the Royal Monceau hotel (Paris)

Named “the Picasso of pastry” by Vogue US, or “the Dior of desserts” also “the Kitchen Emperor” (New York Times), “the King of Modern Patisserie” (the Guardian) or the Dior… .

He has got his statue at the Musée Grévin (Paris) and his name is in the Larousse dictionnary

The creative process : 

He has revolutionized pastry -making : he has invented a totally original world of tastes and sensations. Two collections a year. He is known for his unusual mix of flavors. He marries ingredients such as olive oil and vanilla, wild rose hip. He uses sugar as a seasoning and not a principal ingredient. He is always on the hunt for fresh tastes and tops end products. He finds new ways to blend the sweet with the salty. He creates a dessert like a nose creates a perfume. Like a fashion designer, Pierre Hermé draws his ideas on paper before he creates them. 

Getting the recipe just right can take months.

“I need to write them, to make a design, but the drawing is a sort of blueprint it lets the other chefs set the thickness for the icing, the structure and the actual building of the cake.”  – Pierre Hermé                                     Below : an interview in English

Camille, Assistant Pastry Chef, said, “We have up to a couple of appointments a week when he tastes what we’ve done, to tell us if he likes it or if he doesn’t like it or if certain things need to be changed.”

The Pastries

• Pierre Hermé Macarons : The so-called “Picasso of patisserie” has elevated the simple but delicate French macaron into an art form. Here are some of the numerous Pierre Hermé Macarons. Some belong to “temporary collections”. 
• 

  Macaron Mogador -Image www.hoteliermiddleeast.com

  • Pistachio macaroons
  • Mosaic Macaron : pistachio, cinnamon, cherry
  • Madarin :  Olive Oil and vanilla Macaron
  • Infiniment caramel macaron : salted caramel
  • Infiniment Rose macaron : rose flavored macaron
  • Infiniment Vanilla macaron : with pure vanilla beans, rich in vanilla flavor
  • Celeste macaron : passion fruit, rhubarb and strawberry macaron.
  • Envie Macaron : vanilla,  violet, blackcurrant.
  • Macaron Frivolité : salted butter caramel and apples
  • Macaron Mogador : milk chocolate and passion fruit
  • Ispahan Macaroons : Litchi, raspberry and rose : fresh rasppberries with rose buttercream inside. A rose petal on top as garnish.
  • Jardin secret macaron :
  • Montebello macaron : Macaron biscuit, pistachio cream and raspberry compote: (temporary creation)
    • ————————————-  The price of one macaron : 2,10 euros each

• Pastries : éclairs, tarts, cakes, babas, millefeuilles…
  

  L’ispahan de Pierre Hermé – Image de Parispatisseries.com

  Here are a few of the Pierre Hermé’s pastries : 

  • Ispahan : created when he was working at Ladurée. An oversize macaron, filled with Raspberries, light perfumed and dense rose crème and litchi and macaroon shells.
  • Ispahan cheesecake : unctuous cream flavored with rose.
  • Millefeuille Infiniment Vanille
  • 2000 feuille crisp caramelized pastry layers with a rich praline pastry cream and a chocolate layer
  • Citron tart : lemon and  candied lemon zest
  • Tart Infiniment Vanille : a vanilla pie with a sweet shortbread crust topped with a rich dense white chocolate ganache infused with vanilla and mascarpone.
  • Surprise : the superficial aesthetic is a moon rock-like dome of crusty meringue
  • The Rose Croissant Ispahan : a buttery croissant baked
    

    The 2000 feuille de Pierre Hermé – Image de : paris-est-une-fete.over-blog.com

    with a crunchy outside and a buttery inside. The outside is covered in a rose-flavored almond cream with candied rose petals sprinkled on top.  The inside is filled with a raspberry flavored litchi paste.

  • The Montebello: pistachio dacquoise cake, pistachio mousseline cream, topped with strawberries or raspberries.(temporary creation)
  • The Chou Montebello : Choux pastry with roasted pistachio slivers and sugar crystals, pistachio mascarpone cream, strawberries and pistachio shortbread pieces (temporary creation)
  • ——————————————————- The average price of an individual pastry : 7 €
• Chocolates 
  • “I believe that chocolate bonbons should have an outer coating that is neither too thin,nor too thick. The resulting texture contrasts with the tender moistness of the ganache or the crunch of the pralines. I enjoy a special relationship with chocolate, a substance that is not easy to domesticate. it’s a particularly complex, sensitive ingredient”. Pierre Hermé

Miscalleanous :

• First and only pastry chef to have been decorated as a Chevalier of Arts and Letters
• Awarded “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur” by Jacques Chirac on 3 May 2007, just  before Nicolas Sarkozy’s election.
• Crowned best Pastry Chef 2016 by the World’s 50 restaurants

Reglisse and violette Macaron by Pierre Hermé – Image : Parispatisseries.com

Pierre Hermé’s boutiques : Numerous boutiques from London to Tokyo.

www.pierreherme.com

The pastries are sold in 2 boutiques only : Bonaparte and Vaugirard

72, rue Bonaparte – Paris 6 [Saint Germain des Prés neighborhood – First boutique opened in Paris in 2001]  – Metro Stop : Saint-Sulpice  – Open every day 10am-7pm  –  Telephone: 01 43 54 47 77  [You often have to wait in line to enter the shop].

185, rue de Vaugirard – Paris 15 – Second Parisian boutique opened in 2004 – Metro Stop : Pasteur (6, 12)
Open Monday-Wednesday 10am-7pm, Thursday-Saturday 10am-7:30pm, Sunday 10am-6pm – Telephone: 01 47 83 89 96

4 rue Cambon, 75001 – Macarons and Chocolates only
Nearest transport: Tuileries (1)
Hours: Monday-Wednesday 10am-7pm, Thursday-Saturday 10am-7:30pm; Closed Sunday  Telephone: 01 43 54 47 77

Avenue de L’Opera – Macarons and Chocolates only
This location near the Opera Garnier offers a complete range of Hermé’s  macarons, and an assortment of chocolates. You can buy a box, or choose individual chocolates to take in a bag.
Address: 39 Avenue de l’Opera, 2nd arrondissement
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77

The Ispahan by P. Hermé – Image : www.parispatisseries.com

58 avenue Paul Doumer, 75016 – Macarons and chocolates only
Nearest transport: La Muette
Hours: Monday 1pm-7pm, Tuesday-Thursday 10am-7pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-7:30pm, Sunday 11am-7pm
Telephone: 01 43 54 47 77

Tokio : The first Pierre Hermé boutique opened in Tokyo in 1998

89 boulevard Malesherbes, 75008 – Macarons and chocolates only
Nearest transport: Villiers (2,3)
Hours: Open every day 10am-7:30pm
Telephone: 01 43 54 47 77
18, rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie (Paris 4 – In the Marais neighborhood – The last shop opened) – Macarons and chocolate only.      Hours: Open every day from 10:30am-10:30pm
Tél: 01 43 54 47 77
Métro: Saint-Paul or Hôtel de Ville

Galeries Lafayette : Pierre Hermé products are also available at Galeries Lafayette – Macarons and Chocolates only

Metissé Macaron (carrots,cinnamon,orange) by P Hermé – Image Parispatisseries.com

Pierre Hermé’s books 

Some of his books available in English :

• Desserts by Pierre Herme (on Amazon.com)
• Pierre Hermé Macarons : the Ultimate Recipes from the Master Pâtissier”(on Amazon.com)
• Pierre Hermé Pastries (revised Edition)
• Pierre Hermé, Secrets Gourmands, Larousse, 1993
• Le Larousse des Desserts de Pierre Hermé, Larousse, 1997
• Plaisirs Sucrés, Hachette, 1997
• Desserts by Pierre Hermé, Little Brown, USA, 1998
• Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé, Little Brown, USA, 2001 (on Amazon.com)
• Macarons by Pierre Hermé (on Amazon.com)

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Litchis rose Framboise by P. Hermé – Image : miomiom.eklablog.com