The high adventures of ‘ParisEater’ continues. And now, we go to the shrine of macarons (and other such sweet delights) at the Pierre Herme boutique in St Germain.
I have never really paid much heed to the technical artistry that is the perfect macaron, that isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy the painstaking creation, its just that I haven’t come across any ambassadors of this supposed fine art, until now that is.
I have the eloquent SuperCharz to thank for this tip, otherwise, the only other big macaron name I know of, is Laduree; who incidentally, have their shops just a few steps away from the ‘jewellery’ boutique. We’re along Rue Boneparte in the general St Germain area. Mark told me to brace myself for long queues with Japanese tourists, and sure enough, there was a queue, which meandered out to the shop front and overspilling from relatively tiny boutique.
The short queue moved ever so slowly, and as I inched closer and closer to the front door, I saw satisfied faces exiting with see-through bags and shiny boxes. Actually, they were more like ‘Hah, in your face sunshine, I’ve got a box of goodies and you don’t’ faces, as if they’d won the lottery, or had just became one of the first few to snag an iPhone or a PS3. Oh the fanfare is rousing, and I was so excited.
Finally passing through the doors, I was within touching distance of the edible gems; if not for the glass display it was under, the anticipation from the queue would have compelled me to simply throw myself across the bed of sweet things and cackle madly. Naturally these jewels are not cheap; 1.85 euros for a single macaron and 3.80 euros for the bigger ones. I bought a couple of loose ones and I also picked up a box of seven which contained the ‘summer’ flavours, so I’m told by the shop assistant. 17.50 euros for a box of seven: the ‘Les Macarons D’Ete’.
So this is the summer box. Faultless presentation, the box is so shiny, you can actually see the distorted reflection of my arm in it. Years ago when he began, Pierre Herme actually opened his first boutiques in Tokyo, before coming back to his motherland to satisfy French sweet teeth. I settled on a bench outside the nearby St Sulpice church to break open the box.
I actually wanted to save this until I got back to England, but I took a bite out of the loose macarons I bought, and I was blown to smithereens. It was Huile D’olive & Vanille and it was gobsmacking. The spongy exterior had only a very slight crunch, the texture akin to mildly toasted bread and the flavour was amazingly fragrant. An understated vanilla custard that quietly exploded on my tongue. It was out of this world, it was not too sugary, but in its place was sweet flavours.
The mind boggles with the kind of variety which has been distilled into this selection of macarons. The simple Carrement Chocolat was simply divine, the Satine was a tangy cream cheese and orange compote that gelled to make a sour jam; the Celeste was a passionately fruity rhubarb but the one that left a real impression was the pink glitter dusted Ispahan which was a mellow rose scented delight that envelop a raspberry jewel in its centre.
Oh yes, I ate it all on the spot, it was so good, so complex that it forced me to take time to really savour and enjoy every single bite, it really was magnificent. The sour, sweet, jammy and custardy were lingering on the tongue; if jewels were edible, they would indeed, be Pierre Herme macarons. I thoroughly enjoyed what was a masterclass of fine saccharine arts.
Pierre: please come to London, you will make ridiculous amounts of money, from me and from the rest of the city.
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The Graphic Foodie
SO pretty. The packaging is affecting my magpie instinct here. Love the colours.
http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/ does and photographs macarons very well.
July 29, 2009 at 10:14 am
Kavey
I am a macaron addict. It’s true. I admit it.
Your post is making me green. Not the pretty pale green of a sweet pistachio macaron, oh no. The vivid emerald green of jealousy.
July 29, 2009 at 12:28 pm
catty
WOW those are like A-list macarons. I have to say I still love my humble pistachio, but yes Pierre, PLEASE COME TO LONDON! Kang, I’m so disappointed you didn’t bring any back to share!
July 29, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Essex Eating
Wow – Pierre Herme macarons – I went to Paris a few weeks ago and had some of these, the larger individual ones. Amazing. Gorgeous to look at and the taste was incredible. I agree – Pierre Herme needs to set up shop in London. I’d be a regular for sure.
July 29, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Helen Yuet Ling Pang
Wow, what superb colours! I’ll get to try them in Tokyo in November then…
July 29, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Ollie
Brilliant photos, Kang. The Ispahan sounds amazing – a ‘raspberry jewel’! Love it.
July 29, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Heidi / Savory Tv
Gorgeous, edible modern art in a box! I cannot believe I missed them on my last visit to Paris!
July 29, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Charmaine
Sigh…….. they are utterly perfect. I do hear that Pierre is looking to open in London, fingers crossed!
I would totally blow up that first picture and hang it on my wall, it is beautiful
July 29, 2009 at 8:35 pm
monchichi
Those colours are fabulous! I’ve only ever had macarons from Paul’s in London, they were OK, not the best as they were kinda dry (unless they were meant to be dry, in which case they were top of the class). Yours sound, and probably taste much better than those. Per bite, these aren’t cheap!
July 29, 2009 at 10:08 pm
diva
you take awesome photos! CRAP! i was so close to st. germain a few weeks ago and somehow missed this gem of a macaron place. i’m very upset with myself now. but thanks for sharing. makes me feel sorta like i was there. except i’m drooling all over the laptop
x
July 30, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Q.
Beautiful! I was just in Paris last month but didn’t have a chance to try macarons. Tragic. I know. Pierre Herme will be my FIRST STOP next time I am in Paris. I hope to make it an annual thing. I loved it. I suspect I will love it more with macarons:)
July 30, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Su-Lin
Sigh…my favourite macarons. Yes, Monsieur Herme, please come to London! Apart from the petits macarons, we also had a large Ispahan – absolutely gorgeous with even a tiny fake water droplet on the rose petal. I love his attention to detail.
July 30, 2009 at 3:44 pm
King Kang Klang.
The Graphic Foodie – cool checked out the website you sent, indeed they make very sweet things!
Kavey – Pierre *might* be coming to London very soon
catty – I tried.. i really did, but I gave into my willpower and gobbled it all up, there is always next time.
Essex Eating – I would go as often as I can, if they came to London..!!
Helen – Yes you must! Also look out for Aoki Pattiserie, I saw them in the La Fayette food section, but didnt get any, they looked exciting, macha flavoured macarons!
Ollie – it was brilliant! My lips were coated in the pink dust they used for it as well after i ate it
Heidi – you must try these the next time you go to Paris!
Charz – Utterly perfect indeed ….. I would be the happiest man in London if they ever do come here!
Monchichi – Paul is a mere shadow of Pierre Herme, the real deal is not meant to be dry at all, its suppose to be soft, supple, creamy… just perfect really. make a trip to Laduree in Green Park, its widely considered to be as good as Pierre Herme
diva – thanks, and am glad you are drooling over your PC, there is always a next time, and next time you’re in Paris, you must try these! They are heaven!
Q- Annual trip to Paris sounds great… yes yes PH shd make for a great first stop, hope you will enjoy as much as me!
Su-Lin – Dear Pierre, you see! we all want to throw our money at you because your macarons are simply divine… come to london, come!!
The Graphic Foodie – cool
checked out the website you sent, indeed they make very sweet things!
Kavey – Pierre *might* be coming to London very soon
catty – I tried.. i really did, but I gave into my willpower and gobbled it all up, there is always next time.
Essex Eating – I would go as often as I can, if they came to London..!!
Helen – Yes you must! Also look out for Aoki Pattiserie, I saw them in the La Fayette food section, but didnt get any, they looked exciting, macha flavoured macarons!
Ollie – it was brilliant! My lips were coated in the pink dust they used for it as well after i ate it
Heidi – you must try these the next time you go to Paris!
Charz – Utterly perfect indeed ….. I would be the happiest man in London if they ever do come here!
Monchichi – Paul is a mere shadow of Pierre Herme, the real deal is not meant to be dry at all, its suppose to be soft, supple, creamy… just perfect really. make a trip to Laduree in Green Park, its widely considered to be as good as Pierre Herme
diva – thanks, and am glad you are drooling over your PC, there is always a next time, and next time you’re in Paris, you must try these! They are heaven!
Q- Annual trip to Paris sounds great… yes yes PH shd make for a great first stop, hope you will enjoy as much as me!
Su-Lin – Dear Pierre, you see! we all want to throw our money at you because your macarons are simply divine… come to london, come!!
July 31, 2009 at 7:36 am
Le Basilic, Paris: Fillet, Onglets and the best steaks I’ve ever had. [revue] — LondonEater
[...] tiny, but we were both so stuffed, we didn’t have room for pudding (then again, I had just gobbled up ten macarons a couple of hours before this meal..). It was a great meal, the location was great and service was [...]
July 31, 2009 at 9:49 am
Mathilde's Cuisine
Once you start eating or even touching a macaron from Pierre Herme, you can’t help yourself but eating the whole box. These macaron will always remain the best ones for me, even if the ones from Ladurée are very good as well. And yes, we all waiting for Pierre Hermé to open a store in London…
July 31, 2009 at 10:53 am
silvana
I think I just found a new Blog obsession. Love these photos! Thank you!!
July 31, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Laissez Fare
Hi again. I am SO glad somebody told you to visit Herme’s. I always make a pilgrimage when I’m in Paris if at all possible. A good family friend of mine, who is widely recognized as one of the leading (if not the leading) bakers and pastry chefs in the US trained under him for a while and lists him as one of the top in the game. Their macaroons are unbelievably good, and some of their classics ARE the classics. I am drooling now…thanks a lot!
August 6, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Anthony
Ive never tried pierre hermé macarons, are they different from the one at Ladurée??
August 15, 2009 at 7:46 pm
To Lille and back. — LondonEater
[...] and each were selling for a reasonable 1.5 euros. But their macarons… nothing compared to Pierre Herme, which to me, is still the gold standard. The Hermand macarons were not bad but tasted quite [...]
August 28, 2009 at 8:57 am
shayma
hello, i have seen your blog many times before- the photography is absolutely fabulous. i do hope your leica dream comes true.
thank you so much for leaving the comment on my blog, i dont know anything about photography, so am just starting out with a point&shoot. hopefully i’ll be inspired by beautiful blogs like yours to improve my skills.
this is a lovely, mouth-watering post. i’ve been to pierre herme and the colours are exactly the way your camera has captured them. best wishes, shayma
November 8, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Julia
Pierre Hermé Paris is NOW in London !!! with Macarons and Chocolates
At Selfridges !
February 6, 2010 at 8:07 pm