Ph 10 Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé

[ejw50]

I blew my "pastry" money for this month on Pierre Herme's PH10. When it comes in, let me know if this should be my next purchase!!

[alanamoana]

I blew my "pastry" money for this month on Pierre Herme's PH10.  When it comes in,  let me know if this should be my next purchase!!

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wrong thread for me to post this, but is PH10 worth it? i really want that book!

[Tri2Cook]

I blew my "pastry" money for this month on Pierre Herme's PH10.   When it comes in,  let me know if this should be my next purchase!!

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wrong thread for me to post this, but is PH10 worth it? i really want that book!

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Yeah, we need to start a thread about it so we don't take over this one 'cause I'm curious too.

[adey73]

Is it out In English yet?

[gfron1]

Host Note: This topic has been split off from the Fine Chocolate 2 topic.

[Mikeb19]

I've had ph10 for about a year. Out of all the cookbooks I have, savoury and pastry, it's the one I refer to most. Absolutely amazing book. I have it in French (I'm fluent), and I have no idea if it's out in English or not. But it's an incredible book.

[John DePaula]

I've just had this book for a few weeks. Beautiful, beautiful book. Now that the Valentine's rush is over, I plan to try out some recipes.

I waited more than a year for an English version to come out but still no sign. Now that I have the French version, I'm sorry I waited. C'est formidable!

[alanamoana]

no English version as of yet. probably not one in the works. from what i understand, it is just too expensive to do all those editions? maybe an ego thing?!

anyone know where the cheapest source might be? i know they sell it at 'kitchen arts and letters' in nyc and on fnac...just trying to figure out how to get it without blowing all my money with the crappy exchange rate!

[Tri2Cook]

Hmmm... not sure if I'll bother if I can't get it in English. The only French I know is Kiss, Fry and Toast. I have his other expensive book (Patisserie of...) as well as Chocolate Desserts and, while I think they are both awesome books, I've yet to use them for anything other than inspiration. Of course that's what most of my books are for, I rarely use the actual complete recipes so maybe this would be a good one to add to the collection.

[ejw50]

OK finally a thread where I have knowledge to share instead of soaking everybody else's!

contents

- entremets and tarts (cakes and tarts)

- chocolates

- viennoiserie (sweet/savory stuff)

- ic creams and sorbets

- small cakes and tarts

- macaroons

- fruit pates and other related thing

- plated desserts

- base recipes

~580 pages total

Some generalities:

- On ordering I ordered from amazon.fr, ~130 euros, plus about 20 euros shipping. Total cost to send to Boston was around ~230 or so. I do not know how much it costs elsewhere, but amazon.fr is integrated with amazon.com so they have my info on file at least.

- On French content - It's all in french, and no English translation to my knowledge. If you are unsure, and if you have Patisserie of Pierre Herme (or Bau's book) check the French side then the english side and decide if you would be able to 'translate' the recipes with a little practice. I have 4 french-only books (both Larousse books, secrets gourmands, and this - all PH books) and basically I use the French recipes, but can only decipher some of the fine points. That's where my English PH books (desserts, chocolate desserts, and La Patisserie) help out.

- On difficulty - As with Patisserie of Pierre Herme, if you don't know how to make a Bavarian cream or a fruit mousse, it will be hard to learn from this book. This book assumes you already know how to make everything. All recipes are scaled for 2-4 cakes. Some of the ingredients may not be common (acetate sheets+ rings, atomized glucose, cocoa paste, pailette feuilletine, various dyes, yuzu, passionfruit, lychee, and so on).

- On recipe variety - unlike Patisserie or the other PH books, PH takes one theme and uses it over and over. For example, he takes Ispahan (rose/lychee/raspberry flavors) and makes it in cake, log, chocolate, ice cream, ice cream sandwich, and galette forms. So even though the book is ~570 pages, it's only about 50 flavor combinations. For me this was disappointing since I love how PH pairs flavors. But some may enjoy how PH shows you how to transfer flavor combinations between desserts.

On flavor combinations - Some of them are the following

"Inca" - avocado, banana, chocolate

"Celeste" - strawberry, passion, rhubarb

"Mahogany" - caramel, mango, lychee

"Eden" - Peach, Apricot, Saffron

"mosaic" - Pistachio, sour cherry, Cardamom

"Montebello" - Pistachio, Strawberry

"Aztec" - Chocolate, Orange, Balsamic Vinegar

"Mogador" - milk chocolate, passionfruit

"yu" - orange, apple, yuzu, praline

"plaisir sucres" - milk chocolate, hazelnuts.

"symphonie" - strawberries, cream cheese

the cake/tart section - my favorite section, and most similar to "Patisserie". I've tried a few of these recipes, and like all PH books, and they all work beautifully. Some old familiar favorites are here - ispahan, Cerise sur la gateau, plaisir sucres, a few which you will recognize from "Patisserie", but not too many. All recipse are 2-3 pages, listing components, assembly, final decoration, lifetime, and wine/drink recommendations and one picture.

chocolate section - PH uses an enrober for all of his chocolates. Not much on technique here, this is purely a recipe book. Some interestting things - he uses ultrapasteurized cream (rather than pasteurized), Vegetaline (whatever that is) in some ganaches, and mixes his ganaches with a Stephan vacuum mixer. Most recipes use invert sugar. I probably will not be trying one of these but there are some interesting flavor ideas.

viennisserie - my least favorite type of 'dessert', I skipped this section. no knock on the recipes, just my preference.

Ice cream - A few interesting concepts here. All ice cream uses stabilizer and atomized glucose. I have yet to find a place where I can buy both ice cream stabilizer and sorbet stabilizer onlin, but maybe one of you knows. Most ice creams are a mix of two or more ice creams, similar to his cakes. Basically he's taking his cake flavors and transferring them to ice cream. About 25 pages of interesting "ice cream sandwiches" where he takes uses Macaroons as the 'bread'.

small cakes - similar to big cakes section more of the same. One interesting one I'd like to try is a merengue outside with cream inside with compote layer and cake bottom.

Macaroons - A great section. Basically if you search Fanny's page for PH's macaroons and her pictures, these are the recipes for them. All of them are here - the Ispahan, the coffee one, the olive oil one, and more. The recipe is a little different from "Patisserie", PH uses the italian merengue recipe that Nicole shows in one of the egullet demo (rather than the french merengue recipe in "Patisserie".

Pate fruits section - not my favorite thing, I mostly skipped this section.

plated desserts - did not read carefully enough to review

Overall If you're a PH fan, and if you have his other books, then this is a must-have. If you don't have any of his books, I would get the two books with Dorie Greenspan first (Desserts by PH, Chocolate Desserts by PH) since they are much less expensive. I would recommend "Patisserie of PH" over this since it is somewhat cheaper, in English and the actual number of flavor combinations is similar. Also, "Patisserie" is somewhat better at teaching, for example showing diagrams of the cake layers along with photographs. And the pictures are just as beautiful and the recipes are just as imaginative.

But, definitely worth it for a PH fan. Is it worth 7 regular pastry books? For me yes no question - 7 regular pastry books would not teach me as much about flavor combination and I am a big PH fan. That, and I already have the basic technique for mousses and creams (more or less), so the fact that this book doesn't teach basic technique is OK. So my recommendation can vary depending on your budget, skillset, and other books in your collection.

Edited February 19, 2008 by ejw50 (log)

[Tepee]

Thank you, ejw50. Your review is very helpful.

[alanamoana]

great review ejw50, thank you. i was wondering whether to get 'patisserie' or 'ph10' and while i'm still undecided, your review gave me a lot to base my future decision on.

[ejw50]

great review ejw50, thank you.  i was wondering whether to get 'patisserie' or 'ph10' and while i'm still undecided, your review gave me a lot to base my future decision on.

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Some more on the comparison: "Patisserie" has 2 large sections - fruit cakes/tarts, chocolate cakes/tarts. Then it has smaller sections petit fours, macaroons and 'vieniosserie" THe macaroons in "Patiserrie" are more basic than in ph10, more about the macaroon than the ganache. That, and it's a 'french meringue' macaroon recipe instead of Italian meringue macaroon recipe. In "Patisserie" there are no sections on chocolate candies , plated desserts, or ice creams. I am glad I got "Patisserie" first because I think it is a slightly easier book - there are more (not a ton, but more) technique pictures, and it has English translation. I think you are more skilled than me, so maybe you wouldn't learn anything from the pictures of equipment and diagrams and things in "Patisserrie" so as always it depends on the reader.

Edited February 22, 2008 by ejw50 (log)

[tan319]

You can get ice cream and sorbet stabilizer (Cremoden brand probably) from Pastry 1 (Patisfrance) and certainly L'epicerie, these folks are really swell.

I think also in PH10 you'll see the brand 'Severome' for pastes used, the rose essence in the Isaphan especially.

I think you can get it from here pretty easily.

greatciao

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Anglais version to be published, perhaps coninciding with his French Pastry scool appearance later this year.

hears to hoping.

[AmritaBala]

just wondering, if i were to buy it, (i know only basic words in french....for example, different fruits, eggs, flour, butter etc. )....would I be able to successfully translate it with the help of an online translator, ie babelfish?

[John DePaula]

just wondering, if i were to buy it, (i know only basic words in french....for example, different fruits, eggs, flour, butter etc. )....would I be able to successfully translate it with the help of an online translator, ie babelfish?

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Honestly, I think it'd be a very difficult undertaking. But possible, with diligence. Probably it would get easier each time you do it, though.

If you had to do each recipe, I'm not sure it would be worth it.

[AmritaBala]

just wondering, if i were to buy it, (i know only basic words in french....for example, different fruits, eggs, flour, butter etc. )....would I be able to successfully translate it with the help of an online translator, ie babelfish?

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Honestly, I think it'd be a very difficult undertaking. But possible, with diligence. Probably it would get easier each time you do it, though.

If you had to do each recipe, I'm not sure it would be worth it.

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Perhaps you could be my translator (LOL, joking!)...

I thing ingredients wise it would be easy...but the tough part would be the various methods and instructions, no?

[John DePaula]

just wondering, if i were to buy it, (i know only basic words in french....for example, different fruits, eggs, flour, butter etc. )....would I be able to successfully translate it with the help of an online translator, ie babelfish?

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Honestly, I think it'd be a very difficult undertaking. But possible, with diligence. Probably it would get easier each time you do it, though.

If you had to do each recipe, I'm not sure it would be worth it.

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Perhaps you could be my translator (LOL, joking!)...

I thing ingredients wise it would be easy...but the tough part would be the various methods and instructions, no?

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Ingredients would definitely be the easiest. I think that the text is fairly clear and well written, so you'd probably be able to translate that fairly well, too. Seems (from other threads) that you already have some good experience with French pastry e.g. macarons, so I think this will come in handy if you decide to give it a go.

Do you have any French language cookbooks at your local library? Might be a worthwhile exercise to grab a couple and see how you like doing the translating.

[AmritaBala]

Good idea, John! I'll hop down to the library some time soon....

Do you happen to make macarons as well? I'm having one heck of a time with them now...Using the same recipe but they are flopping over and over again.

Eg: hollow, crusty, crunchy, overly chewy, no lopsided feet, bursting feet....sigh

[John DePaula]

Good idea, John! I'll hop down to the library some time soon....

Do you happen to make macarons as well? I'm having one heck of a time with them now...Using the same recipe but they are flopping over and over again.

Eg: hollow, crusty, crunchy, overly chewy, no lopsided feet, bursting feet....sigh

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I have made them before but I'm not really a fan of macarons, though I do appreciate the art. But give me a slice of Opéra any day!

[AmritaBala]

John, sad to say but I detest making Opera. I can never get a clean cut no matter how hard I try...hehee...Maybe I have a faulty knife :oD

[John DePaula]

John, sad to say but I detest making Opera. I can never get a clean cut no matter how hard I try...hehee...Maybe I have a faulty knife :oD

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Ah, but I bet they still taste great!

[Tri2Cook]

Working through books with an online translator is not a fun job. I tried working with Los Postres de El Bulli (on loan from a friend) that way and I just don't have that kind of patience. I did have some patience though. I have all of the pages assembled into an ebook on my computer in case I ever decide to give it another go someday.

[ejw50]

I agree that the online translator is a pain.

I don't use the instructions that much, mostly just the ingredients list. Every so often I do, but most of the 'starter' components are described in PH's other English books.

I think with your experience level, you'll find you don't need the instructions either.

[AmritaBala]

Thanks everyone. I received it yesterday. I do understand all the ingredients except for maybe 1 or 2, which I will check out on the internet. Safe to say i do NOT understand the instructions. Since I am SO patient, whenever I wanna make a recipe, I will try my *best* to translate it online....

Oh the joy of having books in other languages...lol =op