On November 27, 2012, world-renowned pastry chef Pierre Herme arrived at Harvard University from Paris. He brought five chefs, two assistants, 600 sheets of gelatin, 150 eggs, 68 pounds of caster sugar, 40 pounds of unsalted butter, 32 pounds of cream, 25 pounds of milk chocolate couverture, 11 pounds of grated wasabi, and the alchemic techniques to transform these ingredients into an elaborate lecture de patisserie. Together with Savinien Caracostea and Sanford Kwinter, he methodically deconstructed four conceptual desserts for 400 spectator-diners. The Architecture of Taste recaptures this night and the physiological effects of Herme’s pastry visions.

Contributors Savinien Caracostea, Pierre Herme, Sanford Kwinter

The Incidents is a series of publications based on events that occured at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design between 1936 and tomorrow. Edited by Jennifer Sigler and Leah Whitman-Salkin

Copublished with the Harvard University Graduate School of Design