Who is Pierre Herme?

To anyone who actually read this dusty blog of mine, first off, apologies for not me not bothering to update.
In fact, I actually ate quite a bit of nice things over the past few months. I went to Thailand twice (to Chiangmai and then to Bangkok), discovered some new places and went back to some of my favourite ol' ones.

And now, for this far in-between post, I have decided to start with something pretty special. Recently, I got my hands on something I have always wanted to eat since I first read about them: Pierre Herme Macarons.

So who is Pierre Herme? Apparently according to Jeffery Steingarten, author of The Man who ate everything, Pierre Herme is widely regarded as one of the greatest French pastry chefs of all time. What he is very famous for are his macarons.

A friend of mine went to Tokyo recently and I was very fortunate enough to have her bring me back a box of the above. (isn't it the prettiest packaging?) Well, the first macoron I ate from the box was the chocolate flavour which alas wasn't as mind blowing as I had expected. However, when I popped the rose-flavoured macaron into my mouth, I realised what the fuss was all about. The macorons seemed to be infused with a wonderful, hypnotic scent of rose perfume. It was unique and quite unlike even the rose macarons from Canele. It was definitely way better. Now I see why some call them the best cookies on earth. Suffice to say it did not hit me in that manner, I may prolly change my mind if I get to eat them fresh at his patissier or if I get to savour some of the famous foie gras flavoured ones.