World pie crust championship in Lyon: interview with Pierre Hermé
Pierre Hermé (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)
For the 13th edition of the world pie crust championship in Lyon, Pierre Hermé will preside over the competition. Lyon Capital talked to the pastry chef.
While the calls for applications have been launched, the final of the world pie crust championship will take place on December 5th. Participants will present their recipe to pastry chef Pierre Hermé.
READ ALSO: Call for applications: the world pie-crust championship.
For this chef, it was impossible to decline the invitation: “I have had a passion for this dish, for this product for a very long time. I don’t know if it’s related to the pastry profession or not, but I’ve always liked it, and since my childhood. I tasted it in different forms, very often cold but sometimes also hot. I’m really a fan of pie. It amused me a lot to preside over this competition and at the same time I find it very serious because it is a big dish of French cuisine.
Popular French dish par excellence, the pâté crust is appreciated for its taste but not only according to Pierre Hermé. “It is a dish that can be transported, that can be taken on a picnic. It is a dish that is easy to serve in a wide variety of conditions. I’ve noticed that when you’re at the table and you serve pie, it leaves no one indifferent. There is something, a magic, a mystery of the pie that few dishes generate in people.“
Pastry or charcuterie?
Historically, the pâté crust was originally a technique for preserving charcuterie with sand. Then, the pastry chefs made the crust edible thanks to the puff pastry. “It is a charcuterie but which calls on two professions: that of charcuterie and that of pastry chef. The butcher for seasoning, cutting the meat and preparing the stuffing. Then that of pastry chef for the work of the dough. Afterwards, there are pork butchers who have the talent to do both very well. As there are pastry chefs who also make the pie as a whole very well.“
According to Pierre Hermé, the strength of this dish is the combination of the two trades.
Butcher or pastry chef, professional or amateur, the most important thing is the recipe. Here, the chef admits to having a preference for the traditional meat-based pie. But everything remains a question of balance: “CIt’s all about the cut of meat, marinade and seasoning. And then of course, it’s also a matter of dough and cooking. You have to fill in a lot of things, not to mention the fat. You need fat, so that the pâté is not too dry, but you don’t need too much either. All of this is a balance and everyone must find the balance they want to express.”
READ ALSO: Lyon: a Japanese chef crowned world pie-crust champion at Bocuse Abbey
News from Pierre Hermé
While waiting for the competition, chef Pierre Hermé invites us to taste his new collection of pastries entitled “Japonism“. This collection brings together recipes for macaroons, cakes and ice cream with Japanese products and influences. For the summer, the chef offers frozen mochi, yuzu and green tea ice cream, another with cherry blossoms, a green tea, lime, azuki and ginger cheesecake and other sweet treats.