Pierre Marmonier recalls his childhood summers in Southeast France. Pierre’s summers revolved around a cherry tree in their backyard, which in the warmer months of June and July would bring forth the sweetest fruits. Pierre would spend his summer afternoons under this tree, picking and eating cherries, and would bring some into the kitchen, where he and his mother would proceed to turn the choicest fruits into confitures.
Cherries don’t grow in the Philippines, but Pierre has succeeded in bringing his mother’s practice in the kitchen to work the same kind of magic with fruits that are our own. Instead of cherries, The Fruit Garden’s Tropical Line features the Filipino staple mango in forms that it has never taken before. What Pierre has done with mango, however, is to take this fruit and create a beautiful summer harmony of different kinds of sweetness. While Pierrre recalls childhood summers, I don’t have to recall that far since I’ve had a taste of his luxuray jams many times before, one of which at L’Entrecote when he launched his last line.
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Now, he comes back swinging with new summery flavors. Flavors featured in the Tropical Line include mango jackfruit, mango durian, and mango guyabano. In each jar both flavors can be picked out distinctly, but at the same time both are balanced and they come together to create a whole new and unique taste. Mango is also available fresh all year round, so the quality of the fruit is always at top mark.
Pierre makes sure his products are top quality at all times. Each batch of jams contains no less than 60% fruit, and absolutely no artificial additives and preservatives, so they can last anywhere between ten months to a year. Sugar is used as a natural preservative, but levels are kept at minimum to highlight the taste of the featured fruits. He makes his jams in small batches for better control and with always the perfect temperature, so that his standard is kept at an all-time high.
With The Fruit Garden’s new luxury jams, Pierre achieves his goal of bringing jam beyond the idea of breakfast. Such was the case when I had a taste of the fruit jams integrated in savory dishes at Chef Bruce Lim’s newest restaurant, Chef’s Lab at the Fort.
Recent Table Guest