6 replies to this topic

[gap]

Ordered this book today Pierre Herme Pastries

$40 delivered (to Australia!!!) for a Pierre Herme, hardcover, 288-page book seems like a great deal. I guess I'll know if that's the case when it arrives.

[lannie]

Ordered this, too, and am anxiously awaiting the March 1st publication date. From the few reviews on-line, the photographs look really good. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Just received an email that the book has shipped. Woo hoo!

Edited by lannie, 22 February 2012 - 10:44 PM.

[ejw50]

I got this one from amazon. Looks like it's two takes on every recipe - the classic take and the PH take.

Pluses:

- beautiful photography. Every dessert has a picture - similar to PH10 and patisserie of PH
and different from Desserts by PH or Chocolate Desserts by PH.

- very big book. Good deal for the money.

- Very interesting for the classics - some of this is in his Larousse book, but the level
is a little bit harder here.

- As with all PH books, his take on things and flavors is really what sets him apart
from others.


minuses:
- If you have all the PH books already, there's not a ton of new stuff.
That is, if you've seen Ispahan, maybe you don't need to see it another 3 times.

- Recipes are in between home baker and pro, leaning towards pro.
That is, he leaves the stabilizer out of the ice cream,
but assumes you have pistachio paste. My preference is one or the other (full pro
or full home baker).

- some of PH's takes on the classics seem to stretch the connection to the classics a little.

- This is not a technique book at ALL. All techniques are assumed.

- Technique is another area where he's in between home baker and pro.
He assumes you'll spend time to make 2 types of mousses and macerate cherries and grind up pistachios.
But then assumes you don't have acetate liner to put on your cake ring and will use a hair dryer instead.

Edited by ejw50, 26 February 2012 - 11:01 AM.

[gap]

Got my copy today.

What initially strikes me is this would make a great coffee table book despite all the recipes. The book is broken into 4 sections each with 10+ pastries in each (50 pastries in total). For each pastry, there is a description of the history of how the pastry came into being, then the traditional recipe and then the PH recipe.

For someone with a keen interest in patisserie, I'm enjoying reading the history of each of these classic pastries as much as I am looking at the pictures (which are great) and the recipes.

I have no doubt I will cook from this book given there are both challenging and simple recipes throughout. Despite having a few other PH books, I am glad I got this one (especially given the very reasonable price) and one day, when the kids are older, it may well be placed on our coffee table at home.

Edited by gap, 27 February 2012 - 09:16 PM.

[ajnicholls]

I bought this as an early birthday present for myself :-) It is very beautiful and well laid out. Not made anything from it yet but very keen to start. There are some mistakes I've noted, such as a pastry disc that is made for the infinetessement lemon dish that is never used. It says to put in the freezer and then never mentioned again. This does give me some concerns that there may be errors elsewhere? Anyone noticed?

Adam

[DanM]

Given the author and the audience for the book, I would assume that there are weight measurements for the recipes?

[pastrygirl]

Maybe just proof of how jaded I am after 13 years as a pastry chef, but I'm disappointed with this book. I was lured into buying it by the above discussion of complex multi-component professional level recipes. Yeah, a few, but also a lot of really simple stuff and repeats from PH's other books. Baba? Tiramisu? Tarte tatin? Squash muffins? Opera cake? Trifle? Eh... yawn.

These days I look to cookbooks first for inspiration and secondly for recipes (which I usually adapt to my needs anyway). Not much inspiration found tonight. The grapefruit/ginger/berry combo does sound good, and I may try stenciling macaron or some of his mousse filling recipes. It's a pretty book, but nothing revelatory, and a lot of basic/classic stuff.