I am with renowned French pastry chef Pierre Hermé, the creator of the Ispahan macaron, who has put on his glasses as he intently studies the ingredients list on a bottle of kaya, the ubiquitous coconut jam. He mutters, “Not bad,” after taking a nibble, looking somewhat intrigued.
Hermé, who was in town to launch the world’s largest Pierre Hermé store at Resorts World Sentosa, which opened on August 1, declares: “I get my inspiration from being curious about new ingredients and tastes.”
Taking in a whiff from a tomato leaf-scented candle by French master floral designer Christian Tortu, inspired Hermé to make macarons that bear a similar vegetal and citrus-like taste profile, paired with black olive puree.
For his Jardin d’Este macaron, he drew inspiration from black garlic. Reminiscent of liquorice, the mellow sweetness of black garlic is enhanced with balsamic vinegar in the dainty treat.
During his recent trip to Singapore (he has been here over 10 times since 1999), Hermé sampled local desserts such as chendol, cheng tng, and putu piring. He remembers pandan, the fragrant leaf used in many desserts here.
He reveals: “I tried to make something with pandan, but the taste was not for me. I will try again; I will need to speak to more people to understand more about the taste and local culture.”
The Tartine Infiniment Cacahuete made with peanuts is a Singapore-exclusive item. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
Exclusive to Pierre Hermé’s Singapore outpost is the Tartine Infiniment Cacahuete. The trompe l’oeil cake, resembling a toast slice, is made with peanut praline and cream, and topped with peanuts, caramel, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Hermé sought inspiration from a tradition at Long Bar at Raffles Hotel Singapore, where patrons can brush peanut shells off onto the floor.
The Pierre Hermé flagshop store in Singapore. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
The tongue-in-cheek creation is one of the many new features in the 3,500 sq ft duplex store, which also debuts concepts, such as bubble tea, an ice cream bar and a furoshiki stand. The store, which took over two years to come to fruition, is a joint partnership with Resorts World Sentosa. “A lot of people come through Singapore, so it is a great opportunity to showcase different concepts in a big store,” he explains.
Flavour is king
Flavour is paramount for Hermé when it comes to creating his desserts. This quest is epitomised through christening a collection of macarons as “Infiniment” (infinity in French). He says: “This represents my interpretation of the best expression of a flavour.”
The Infiniment Vanille flavour, created in 2005, marries the rich and fruity flavours of Tahiti vanilla with floral and woody notes from Mexican and Madagascar varieties.
Infiniment Vanille (middle, white tart) is one of the iconic flavours from Pierre Hermé. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
Infiniment Vanille is one of the multitude of flavours in the Pierre Hermé universe. Once a flavour has been nailed down, it is transformed into macarons, cakes, pastries, ice cream, and even savoury dishes like ceviche.
For example, his emblematic Ispahan macarons, or pink meringue sandwiches of raspberry, rose, and lychee, have been reimagined as a sea bream ceviche, which is served at the La Table by Pierre Hermé restaurant here. The rose-scented appetiser of fish with cubes of lychee raspberry jelly and raspberries starts sweet and ends with a warm tom yum-like kick.
“I have more than 80 recipes that are linked to Ispahan, and there’s also a Mogador ceviche, inspired by another popular macaron flavour, milk chocolate and passionfruit,” he gamely shares.
How does he come up with such versatile flavours? “I love to eat and project these possibilities in my mind,” he says with a chuckle.
Ispahan macarons. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
Although over 30 flavours are added to the repository annually (the brand also has a macaron customisation service called Haute Couture), he has a soft spot for the Ispahan, which was created in 1997. Hermé, who has worked at Fauchon and Ladurée before opening his first store in Tokyo a year later.
He recalls: “It started with me working with rose and raspberry for a macaron. Ten years later, lychee was added. I discovered that it has a rose-like taste through drinking Gewürztraminer. Rose wasn’t widely used in Europe then.” And the rest is history.
Pleasure through desserts
Beyond blending French pastry with Japanese inspirations, Hermé has been pushing the boundary of flavours through the “Par Nature collection”, which uses wild herbs and fruit. The Estela features cedar nut praline, buckwheat sable and coriander, mint and sage jelly, encased in pine-studded Chantilly cream.
He says: “This reflects my current style of dessert-making, which brings out the best of humble ingredients and is made with uncommon ingredients that work well together”.
The main confectionery counter at Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
Brimming with creativity, Hermé draws out the designs of his pastry creations for clarity, and every detail is recorded precisely. They are executed by chefs across more than 90 stores in 13 countries, including chef Antonio Benites, who helms the Singapore store. He has worked with Pierre Hermé in Paris for five years and at the now-defunct Joel Robuchon Restaurant here.
The group also has an international team of chefs, led by chef Olivier Menard, who travels permanently to ensure consistency of its products around the world. The macarons and chocolates are air-flown from France to the Singapore store. The group plans to open stores in Taiwan, Jakarta, Zurich, and Uzbekistan by the end of this year.
Pierre Hermé at the opening of his flagship store in Singapore. (Photo: Pierre Hermé Paris – Singapore)
Hermé says: “People who have left the company are still important to us. We always maintain contact and a good relationship. Every two years, I organise a meeting for staff and former staff to get together.”
At 63, Hermé is still fulfilling his raison d’être of bringing pleasure through desserts. What’s his secret? “I follow the rule of creating my business the way I want to do it,” he answers without skipping a beat.
While the Pierre Hermé brand continues to expand, Hermé is quick to refute that the group is an empire. He says: “We are a company with a soul and have the spirit of contributing our best. We aim to bring pleasure to people so that they can leave the store with a smile.”
Dining and Cooking