The Ispahan @ Pierre Hermé

Named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2016, Pierre started the passion young.

Born to a pastry chef/baker, Pierre started at 14 as an apprentice under Gaston Lenotre: the pastry chef who brought pastry making into the modern age. Gaston revolutionized the pastry world with bright, tropical fruits and decreasing the amount of flour and sugar used in traditional recipes, adding a lighter and more refreshing spin. When Gaston passed away, his work for pastry is deemed on par as Dior for dress making. For the six years that Pierre worked under Gaston, he learned about what is quality and how to achieve it.

Pierre Hermé fruit forward and bright pastry, under the influence of Gaston

PH started his career at the iconic Fauchon before working at Ladurée. He invented the worldwide famous Ispahan. Isfahan, named for the ancient city in Persia that was famous for roses, is made out of two macaron shells, fresh tart raspberry center, rose cream filling and a fresh lychee in the middle. Bigger than a regular 3cm dimensioned macaron, Isaphan earned international success leading him to fame and PH opened his own patisserie house in Tokyo in 1998 and then Paris in 2001.

Interview with PH, from Huffpost

PH- “My father was a pastry maker and a baker, and I remember him at Easter making chocolate rabbits. The image of the excess chocolate dripping down the cooling racks is a very vivid memory because it was my first taste of milk chocolate." Chocolate, probably the next medium that Pierre is going to conquer.

“A good macaron is the successful sum of many small details. It’s a simple thing, and yet you need to have high-quality almonds, to respect the resting times and drying times... you really need to respect everything about the process.

What is very important is that when the egg whites have been whipped into a meringue with the sugar and almonds, we need to let the meringue ‘fall’ or settle (in French called ‘macaronnage‘, hence the name of macarons). And this process is crucial.

Also, once your macarons are piped on the baking sheet in 4 centimeter circles, you have to hit the tray a few times so that the dough spreads out evenly. Then you let your macarons ‘crouter‘, or develop a crust, by letting them dry out for a few minutes.”

I am not a big desert eater but will always remember the taste of the Isaphan. The crust crisps with the first bite and then the rest of the macaron shell is chewy and fragrant. The rose creme in the middle with the fresh lychee releases flower scents. It is as though you are eating a sweet flower with contrasting textures and you get a whiff of rose, then the sweetness of lychee and the tartness of fresh raspberries. Words fall short to describe the complexity and texture of the famous Isaphan.

Tips:

Although there are many PH stores in Paris, only the 72 rue Bonaparte store has the Ispahan ( as of 2014)
Oh yea, these are gluten free as well, as they are made with almond flour

Pierre Hermé located in the fashion district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Address: 72 rue Bonaparte 75006

Phone: +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77