hortus conclusus

Greetings once again, and it’s time for another perfume riddle. The gods have decreed it. Prepare yourselves, and make way for yon riddling perfume bottle, come from on high to challenge your wits. Which heroic reader will throw down the gauntlet and guess, at her peril? what I am I will not tell, for if you do not know me well, you cannot guess, and that is good for I’m obscure. I’m partly food, brilliant, luscious and so sweet, the red topping on an ice cream treat. Then tobacco, smokey, round, and almond, bitter and profound. My name is made of classical references, Latin, Greek, whatever your preference is. I struggle and emerge victorious, Name my name; I am notorious.   Since I am away on vacation, I cannot tell you if you’re right, so I embedded the house name in the labels below CREDITS: Darius’s sphynx, currently in the Louvre. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I’m trying something a little different for the Scents of the Mediterranean Blogfest—in honor of Ines, who, I know, loves fiction, I have written a little story about the perfume trade in the Mediterranean in the 13 th century… Let me know what you think. Thanks to Ines of “All I am-a Redhead” and Elena of “Perfume Shrine” for organizing this fun party! The sun—God’s candle, some call it—shines on a busy scene in the 13 th century northern Mediterranean port city. Ships pull close to shore, and a multiethnic population of sailors, merchants, and dogsbodies energetically heave large chests out of the wooden ships’ great bellies. You can almost imagine the laden ships breathing a sigh of relief as their month-long indigestion is suddenly, finally cured. “Finally, that sharp point in my belly on the left side has eased off” your imaginary sentient ship declares to the larger more gruff neighbor to the west in the bay. You laugh indulgently at your private flight of fancy, a moment o...

ZUT ALORS! It is time again for a riddling perfume bottle to sing you a little song! Who can it be this time? Kudos to the first to guess correctly: I’m the best of a lot of second rate spinoffs from a first-rate perfume house, I guess that’s the tradeoff when the bee-bottle people must needs pay the bills; they must create potions that give girls sweet chills of delight when they spritz my citrus elixir. They’ll think; it’s like breakfast, or perhaps in a mixer for cocktails, that juice, so sour and so ruby. That’s me indeed; I’m the fruit with the mostest, acidic and pulpy, I please every hostess-- on her skin, in her belly, it is all the same. By now I imagine you have guessed my name. If not, I’ll give you another sweet hint: I come in a bottle with a netting of glints of gold so special you’ll shell out the lucre for me though I’m named for a medieval genre of literature distinctly au passé now. You’ve guessed me, I’m sure, so I’ll take a bow ...

I have been away visiting my best friend and his cousin, who owns a French bakery up in Crown Point NY, which is right on the border, practically, of Quebec. I had a blast helping Yannig (his name is an old Breton one, from his dad’s side)  to bake his  artisanal bread in the great stone oven he built by hand, even though it was like 110 degrees in the bakery. To the right you can see Laurel, my best friend Robert’s girlfriend, getting ready to load unbaked dough into the oven. When the oven door opens, a blast of fragrance explodes out with the incredible heat, redolent of woodsmoke, whatever spices and fruits may be in the bread and pastries inside, and the yeasty, supremely comforting fragrance of baking bread. when the bread comes out of the oven, my nose can differentiate between the different kinds; Crown Point Bread’s signature pain rustique,with its hearty, full, wheaty smell, the more delicate, tantalizing odor of baguettes, and, the absolutely ...

I just received a pack of the Scented Djinn’s line of perfumes, and I am very impressed with Sahar— This is seriously quality juice! Something about it reminds me of Thai food-in the best way possible—that sour lime and woody/sour/aromatic lemongrass-ginger combo is true to life here. So, as an adventure in sinaesthesia suggestion, I’d say give this a go the next time you go out for Thai food! I bet that would be awesome…. Sahar boasts a citrus/lemon/bergamot sharpness on top of a round, full floral/green accord that is truly luminous. On me, the white flowers come out, and create that Fraca s-like yeasty butteriness that I love oh so much—but unlike Fracas , which is full-bore floral, this is green and fresh! Sweet, tart, woody, lovely, yes…. I do not think of the Sahara Desert when I smell this—rather, as I said, of Thai food and fresh, sour, green things. It is not a dry fragrance, as its name might lead one to believe, but rather, a moist and lush affair. In the drydown—som...

It’s still really hot here, so I am making lots of cold soups. Here are some more recipes, for those who are also suffering this heat wave. Cold sweet corn soup. Slice the kernels off at least 4 ears of fresh sweet corn and blend with 1 sauteed onion and 4 sauteed whole garlic cloves, 2 tbsps. lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, and the liquid of your choice—cream, milk, evaporated milk, chicken stock, or buttermilk. Blend till relatively smooth-textured. Open a can of chipotle peppers, and drain out the juice into a bow l, reserving the peppers for another use. blend a bit of the reserved liquid with olive oil, and then drizzle this on top of each bowl of cold corn soup, adding a dollop of sour cream as well! Enjoy! Kurt’s Cold Cucumber Soup (one of my favorites ) in a blender, 2 peeled cukes, chopped a bit enough buttermilk to make it blend nicely one clove of raw garlic dill a tsp. Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold, wi...

SO my cat looks like I feel: pooped. It has been a great week, but very busy here! First, my best friend and his girlfriend stopped by on their cross-country roadtrip….   they were doing contact dance and gymnastics in the living room. You know, like you do (LOL). we went on a picnic together, and toured downtown Ithaca (I won a free rose here!) we walked around the lily pond in Cornell’s Plantations and listened to the frogs in the evening. Some bird dropped a feather here. After they left, my brother and his wife (the Brazilian) came over from michigan to spend the 4th here. we went on a drive to Skaneatles, a Finger Fake and town to the east of us where the water is crystal-clear and got some homemade malts and super-fresh fish  at Doug’s Fish Fry for the 4th, I threw a party down by Cayuga Lake. my thesis advisor and a bunch of grad students came. we sat on the dock, watched the sunset, and then the fi...

I know this isn’t perfume-related, but Bloody Frida expressed interest in my recipe for zaatar croutons (mentioned in my post on L’air du Desert Marocain ) so I figured I’d just put the whole recipe up. This is very nice for hot evenings like tonight, and costs almost nothing in both time and supplies to make. Cold cream of celery soup: cut the washed hearts of three celery bunches (leaves and all of any stalks that are not coarse and darker green) cut up two onions and peel ten garlic cloves melt 1/5 c. butter in a large pot Add celery, onions, and garlic. Cover and cook on lowish heat, stirring occasionally, until celery and onions have softened completely. (approx 30-40 min.) Add a little stock if necessary to allow the soup to blend blend soup ‘til creamy, adding half and half or evaporated milk to taste.  Chill, and serve with: Za’atar croutons: put some extra virgin olive oil in a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge a few hours ahead. When the oil ha...