Les Macarons de Pierre Hermé: une critique

My friends, I've done a terrible thing.
I waited nearly a week before I visited Pierre.
I didn't know how I could ever forgive myself, so to compensate, I bought out the entire store.

Well. Nearly.
It's been so long since I've had to tolerate the mediocre and average macarons of Los Angeles imitators, that I forgot what the sweet Parisian originals tasted like.
Gold.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's an assload of crappy macarons (yes, crappier than Los Angelesean, even) you can find in Paris. The bakery I work at, for example. *cough vomit cough*. But a visit to Monsieur Hermé is always a reason to throw inhibitions into the wind and relinquish oneself to a lifetime of diabetic suffering. I had a bad day at work one day, which usually turns out for the better anyway, because I use it as a reason to go and spend money on useless things (a sugar tin, that says "sucre" on it, for example. Oh but it was so cute!), and I paid my most beloved macaron boutique a visit. When I walked in, of course there was only one saleswoman who looked grim and morose, dressed in brown of all colors (how unbecoming!) -- helping out an Italian woman who pronounced "caramel" strangely and kept asking which flavor each macaron was, even though they were each clearly marked. She "hrmmed" and "hmmm'ed" with her face plastered to the glass until she made her decision. The French saleswoman sealed them all in a little plastic sachet, with a tiny golden sticker. When it was my turn, I literally told her to just give me everything. I ordered myself a large of the passionfruit/chocolate "Mogador," easily my favorite. I had half of it the same day with some coffee.

Oh god.



As far as presentation goes, Pierre isn't the wittiest, nor the "freshest," easily beat by the classicism of Ladurée, but my, he wins in taste.

People from all over flock to taste his interesting flavors, which rotate throughout the seasons.

MmMMMmmMm
Everyone has to try this macaron once in their life.

"Magnifique"
Fraise & Wasabi (Strawberry/Wasabi)

I was intrigued by the interesting combination of flavors in this macaron. Who would have thought that wasabi went well with anything but raw fish? Who would have though wasabi went with anything, period? To find it in a confection would have either had to be pure novelty or absolutely mindblowing. Unfortunately in this case, it was novelty. Perhaps it was because of the ill timing in which I devoured this one, but for some reason, my ganache was mushy, and I didn't get the kick of wasabi that I was expecting -- it just tasted like a bad strawberry. If you're advertising something to have wasabi in it, you'd better be ready to knock people's socks off. Otherwise, it's just. . . meh.

"Huile d'olive et Vanille" (olive oil and vanilla) & "Éden" (peach, apricot, and safran)
The simplicity of the olive oil and vanilla macaron was lovely. It was such a combination of rich & light, I actually very very much enjoyed it. Top three!

The peach, apricot, and safran macaron was perfectly balanced. All flavors propogated were well represented. When you bit into you, you could feel the texture of the peach. It's delightful.

"Fragola" (Strawberry & Balsamic Vinegar)

DAMN! Too sweet.

"Rose" & "Chocolat" (self explanatory)
The rose macaron is easily the best rose I've ever had. It was the perfect essence of rose. Not too strong and artificial, as some tend to be, but not too light so that the ganache is ALL cream. It was perfect.

The chocolate chips in the chocolate macaron make this one even more lovely. Rich, dark, ribbony, touch of tartness from the intensity of the cocoa. A sign of real chocolate! Usually chocolate-flavored things are too intense for me, but this was just right.

"Mosaïc" (pistachio & griottine) & "Jasmin" (jasmine)

I don't know what griottine is, and I tried looking it up, but google translate doesn't bode well with culinary words, I suppose. If anyone could tell me, that'd be great. In any case, it was probably the surprise I got in the center. I didn't know what it was, but I liked this enough. Nothing to brag about.

I really wanted to like the jasmine. Like really. But I didn't really. It was a little too light for me, and the ganache had a little bitterness that jasmine tends to have sometimes... meh.

"Citron" (lemon)

I do admit, I prefer Bouchon's lemon to Pierres'. But damn. I was never a lemon fan before that.

"Infiniment Caramel" (Caramel) & "Arabesque" (Apricot & Pistachio)

The caramel was yummy. Not too sweet, which, admittedly, is the downfall of most caramels. This was nice and salty and mmMmMMM!!!! You see I've run out of descriptors. Haha.

This was more pistachio than apricot. It had a pistachio center. Very nutty. Most pistachio-y macaron I've ever had. It was good! Not too sweet.

I know I promised Anna that I would try other recommended macaron places, but golly, why bother? Haha.
Don't worry though, you'll see more posts in the future. :)