Monday, April 28, 2008

Pierre Hermé & Joël Robuchon

Many thanks to my kind friends! It's greatly appreciated :D
This is the post that I've been dying to blog about - no procrastinating at all. Being the slow poke I am, I completely missed Pierre Herme when he came. (Though it was not as if I was really willing to splurge - feeling a bit stingy nowadays). So I thought my chance to sink my teeth in such high-class macaroons was gone.
Lucky I'm so fortunate to have a 'second chance' with not only one, but TWO of the world's best macaroon specialists. When I gleefully whipped out my box of Pierre Hermé, and (ziploc of) Joël Robuchon, I had to explain to my clueless mum what the names actually were. Simply put it, it's the Gucci and Prada of macaroons.
Sadly, when I was trying to get good shots of them, it was scorchingly hot and my dining table's located right next to the balcony. To my horror, after a few shots on the ixus, the macaroon filling developed a slight sheen and I rushed them into the fridge to recuperate from their heat stroke. Though some would say that I've already killed the texture of the macaroons by giving them less than favourable conditions, they still tasted marvellous to me. I personally prefer Joël Robuchon's macaroons for their delicate, light and thin shells, but I've yet to try Pierre Hermé's signature Ispahan Rose. Perhaps I'll be a convert once I try that. I suppose that the different flavours I tried don't make it a good comparison -but I much prefered the dainty sizes and crusts of JR macaroons. JR rose was exploding with rose flavour and scent - completely unlike the ones I've tried. I liked PH's Raspberry Chocolate, though some people might find it too tart, I thought that the sourness of the raspberry contrasted very well with the rich chocolate. There was also Truffle but to my utmost dissppointment, I could hardly taste or smell any truffle, and I even had to call my friend to confirm which one was truffle. Joël Robuchon's Rose Macaroon is my fave - if I ever went to Japan, I'll be sure to bring home a huge box of nothing but rose macaroons! Lucky they don't have him in Taka cos I'll be sure to burn a hole in my pocket. To think that the doughnut craze here was mad - can you ever imagine how it'll be like if ether JR or PH came and set up a stall? The que would rival the annual NDP's one!
An article on Joël Robuchon in Tokyo's Takashimaya: http://tokyoq.com/weekly_updates/tqoole/salon.html

2 comments:

red fir said...

hey dear! you're so lucky to have such nice friends to bring you back PH's macarons! As for the rose...check it out here. :) I believe the white one is the truffle. :)

Can I be your friend too? keke

Anonymous said...

wow! u tried the famous macaroons. bet it taste nice eh?

btw thanks for linking me up, i linked you up too! Feel free to drop by my site and leave comments : )

Cheers
Brad