A date with a Frenchman

Methodical, meticulous, precise and exact: You must think I’m describing a disciplined scientist; actually, I’m referring to the virtues of a certain baker – a French baker to be exact. And he truly is the genuine article. He goes by the name of Eric Perez. His name may not ring a bell, but in the industry where dreamy confectionery and sweet indulgences mean big business, this Frenchman is the cream of the cream. In fact, he was recently hailed as one of the top pastry chefs in the USA.

Spanning 20 years of proven expertise with pastries and special desserts, Eric was once a bronze medallist in the prestigious World Pastry Cup, which is considered the Olympics of the pastry world. His work has sent him globetrotting as the opening trainer for more than 10 Ritz Carlton Hotels around the world and as a demonstrator throughout Asia for various pastry companies.

One of his more memorable achievements was being commissioned to create the 50th birthday cake of Hillary Clinton in 1997. His work has earned him the vote of Chocolatier magazine as one of the top 10 pastry chefs in America. Now based in Shanghai, China, he proves his mettle in business by successfully managing the Patisserie Visage, which he owns.

Now working closely with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the California Agricultural Export Council (CAEC), he espouses the inherent goodness of US fruits and nuts and spreads this message around the world as its ambassador. I recently had the honor of collaborating with this man, and I am awed just by his humble and unassuming persona. Together, we came up with various baked goods incorporating a variety of US dried fruits and nuts, such as Basque cake with dried prunes, almond pistachio raspberry pain de genes, chocolate pecan thumbprint, apricot cranberry scones, and financier with almonds and cranberries. These were presented at the Makati Shangri-La Manila last Aug. 11 in a demonstration seminar entitled "A Fusion of Baking Creativity with US Dried Fruits and Nuts." This was part of the ongoing project of the USDA Agricultural Trade Office, US Embassy Manila and the CAEC to promote and spread awareness of US dried fruits and nuts in the country.

I was honored to work side by side with Perez as we experimented and played with different ingredients until we found the right formula to our different recipes. The pro that he is, he was indeed very precise, like a chemist, scaling everything. He was organized and kept the kitchen clean as he worked. I definitely agreed with his way of thinking, that desserts, most associated with words like excess and indulgence, are the most scientific foods to make. This doesn’t make him less of an artist, because Eric has also mastered the craft of combining creativity with everything he does, blending the unique powers of preparation, execution and presentation to come up with creations of ultimate satisfaction. Personally, I found him to be a gentle and encouraging spirit, ready, willing and able to share what he has learned.

It was a pleasure working with one of the world’s best pastry chefs, especially one who is humble to a fault. And the USDA is rest assured that this Frenchman will continue to boost their campaign by producing inventive, flavorful and ultimately satisfying healthy baked delights as the better alternative to just any sweet treat!

Cheers and happy, healthy eating to you all!