Macaroni master Pierre Hermé serves up sweets

[video]He’s been called the Picasso of pastry… Pierre Herme is known for his unusual mix of flavors. Here a raspberry macaron, with lime zest and a touch Espellete pepper…

Herme is always on the hunt for fresh tastes and tops end products. In his Parisian studio, he finds new ways to blend the sweet with the salty…creating a dessert like a nose creates a perfume.

I have taste in mind, I mean I focus on the taste…and when I say taste it’s the flavor, the texture and the sensation that I want to feel when we eat.

I am not happy with only eating what has a reputation of being good, I need to taste everything, even things that are supposed to be bad, that’s interesting because it allows you to see what stands out and to make an adjustment in taste.

Like a fashion designer, Herme draws his ideas on paper before he creates them.

I need to write them, to make a design, but the drawing is a sort of blueprint…it lets the other chefs set the thickness for the icing, the structure and the actual building of the cake.

Up next, the kitchen… where chefs like Camille put the design to the test. Getting the recipe just right can take months.

We have up to a couple of appointments a week when he tastes what we’ve done, to tell us if he likes it or if he doesn’t like it or if certain things need to be changed.

Herme started out as an apprentice to acclaimed pastry chef Gaston Lenotre. And now has boutiques of his own everywhere from London to Tokyo, helping to export France's sweet tooth to a global clientele.