Hugo & Victor :: Victor Fraise Tarte
By Paris Pâtisseries in Hugo & Victor, Pastry Reviews
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I was reading an interview with Patrick Roger (MOF Chocolatier), the other night, where he said, “Baking and patisserie is bloody boring, contrived.” And you know what? Too often, I couldn’t agree more. There’s even one patissier in particular that springs to mind. I’ll give regular readers one guess. That’s right – Arnaud Larher – e.g., his Paradis. If that thing isn’t boring to eat and ridiculously overthought, then I don’t know what is.
For all the obscenely gauche and dull work I’ve choked down (hint: There are well over 100 pastries I photographed and that you’ll never see – for good reason), Hugo & Victor seemed to always serve up work devoid of pointless ornamentation, and so deftly flavored that I can’t imagine ever describing their work as boring or contrived. The terms I would actually use are elegant and elemental. Their Victor Fraise tarte might even be the finest expression of that.
There’s no fancy sugar garnish – no flourish of bland Chantilly – no ********* piece of white chocolate projecting out of it – no random gelatin cube skewered together with a macaron and a raspberry. No, the Victor fraise is just strawberries – perfectly ripe strawberries, neatly sliced and flipped topside-down in neat little rows into a bed of the tangy strawberry crème and crème d’amande, then nuanced with a squirt of citrus and sprinkling of thyme. Yes, the pâte sablée is colored bright red, and you could argue that that was unnecessary – but sometimes the carpet should match the drapes. It’s also the only tarte constituent that tastes as though it’s not raw, and that is a very good thing. The remainder of the work is so fresh and so barely sugared that its expression on the palate is more than just fresh and natural – it tastes “alive”.
As much as Pierre Hermé stole my heart with the mascarpone quenelle in his Tarte Fraise Classique, this Victor Fraise from H&V runs a close second. I mean, can you think of a better way to end your life as a strawberry than this?…
And since there’s so little sugar, you could probably eat 3 of these for every 1 regular strawberry tarte. At least that’s what I tell myself, to rationalize having just eaten 3 of these.
So, yes, do grab a Victor Fraise Tarte wedge from Hugo & Victor. I can guarantee it’s going to be one of the most refreshingly refreshing taste experiences you could hope to have. Though, in my experience, you have an excellent chance of that with any of their fruit tartes. Vive H&V!
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