T H E
P R O D U C E R S
P A R I S
There’s a reason Pierre Hermé is called the ‘Picasso of pastry’ – as
Vicky Lane
discovered on a macaron masterclass in Paris
Sweet art
“i don’t go out of my way
to please customers. I’ve never
created anything in response to consumer demand.” It’s not
what you expect to hear from the owner of one of the world’s
most successful luxury food brands but, then, Pierre Hermé
has never been one to conform to expectations.
In fact, the French pastry chef’s entire pâtisserie empire,
which now spans five countries, has been built on the unusual
– particularly when it comes to macarons. Until around a
decade ago, these colourful meringue biscuits weren’t often
seen outside France, but in recent years, they’ve become a
global phenomenon. Fêted by gourmands and seemingly never
off the pages of food magazines, they’ve been appearing in
more exotic flavours of late. Much of this is thanks to the
52 year old, who has turned their creation into something of
an art-form, introducing complex ingredients such as white
truffle, caviar and cigar where once there was the relatively
simple choice of vanilla, chocolate, coffee or raspberry.
“I never set out to use unusual ingredients,” Hermé asserts
when I visit him in his Parisian office. “The only challenge that
interests me is making something that tastes exceptional.”
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