[Paris] Pierre Hermé Macarons

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Pierre Hermé

Add: 72 rue Bonaparte 75006 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77
Hours: 10am~7pm (7:30pm on Thu-Fri, 8pm on Sat)
Website: www.pierreherme.com
Price: €4.50~7.30/individual dessert
Visited on: 2012-08

“Les macarons n’ont que quelques grammes pour mettre nos sens en émoi. Des yeux, on les dévore déjà. Les doigts effleurent leur surface, les arômes sont doucement humés. Lorsque l’on croque leur fine enveloppe croustillante, les oreilles en sont tout émoustillées. Alors vient en bouche une grâce délicate…”

– Pierre Hermé

I’m not yet ready to say which pastry shop is my favorite in Paris, but when it comes to macarons, Pierre Hermé is definitely my man. It’s almost impossible for me to pass his boutique without buying a bag of these smooth-skinned, soft, delicate rounds that come in all sorts of fascinating colors and flavor combinations. Green asparagus with hazelnut oil? Lemon with caramelized fennel? Wasabi with candied grapefruit? Raspberry with espelette pepper? Or…fresh mint with sweet peas?

Of course, there are also the classic all-time favorites. Here’s what I got on this particular visit, from the top down: Réglisse & Violette (licorice and violet), Infiniment Chocolat Porcelana (pure chocolate from Venezuela & porcelana), Infiniment Caramel (caramel with salted butter), Truffe Blanche & Noisette (white truffle and hazelnuts), Mogador (milk chocolate and passion fruit), Jardin Oriental (orange flower, rose, and ginger), Infiniment Citron (lemon).

A rather interesting one is Truffe Blanche & Noisette (white truffle with hazelnuts), which is only in store during this season of the year. The truffle flavor is so strong that the store staff actually offered to pack it in a separate bag so that its aroma doesn’t “leak” to other macarons, which could happen if you don’t eat the macarons within two hours of purchasing.

Om nom nom.

I also really liked Mogador, a perfect harmony between smooth milk chocolate and acidic passion fruit, and Infiniment Chocolat Porcelana, filled with Porcelana dark chocolate ganache and small pieces of Pure Origin Porcelana chocolate with fleur de sel.

I happened to pass by another Pierre Hermé boutique the very next day, and upon seeing flavors I haven’t tasted before, I couldn’t help but take out my wallet again. Meet Eden (peach, apricot, and saffron) and Huile d’Olive à la Mandarine (olive oil with mandarin).

The combination of peach, apricot with saffron sounded very interesting, but in actual tasting I found the saffron flavor to be too overpowering, leaving only very little room for peach and apricot. C’est dommage.

That’s it for this blogpost, but I’m sure you will see macaron updates through out the year, as there are already a few things I’m eyeing from Pierre Hermé’s 2012 Les Jardins collection: Mozaic (pistachio, Ceylon cinnamon & Griottine cherries, available starting April 2nd), Métissé (orange and carrot with Ceylon cinnamon, available starting March 26th), Infiniment Jasmin (jasmine flower & jasmine tea, avaialble starting March 26th)…just to name a few.