Essays on Flavor and Fragrance: 27 posts

 

The enjoyment of delicious food and beautiful scents are among life’s most wonderful pleasures, and in fact, these pleasures are tightly linked. Imagine holding a ripe yellow pear in your hand. Bring it to your nose and inhale the scent of its skin. The rush of fruity notes with their lemon and banana nuances will hit you almost immediately. Now take a bite. As you swallow, the caramel and milky notes become more evident. Finally, you might even notice some lingering almond nougat sweetness. Voilà, a fragrance pyramid on the tip of your tongue! To celebrate such simple pleasures, I would like to share some highlights of autumnal scents and flavors, seasonal delights that make me forget shortened days, colder nights and rainy mornings. Whether these pleasures include a luscious chestnut montblanc, quince stewed till it turns ambery-red, decadent persimmon jelly, julienned turnips tossed with pomegranate seeds or a slice of pumpkin flan, they are as much about fragrance as about flavor. I hope that this list along with suggested flavor affinities (some of which I found during my perfumery raw material training) will provide some inspiration to explore new pairings.

I find quince to be the most marvelously perfumed fruit, rivaling fresh strawberries and peaches. Its fragrance is a combination of violet, rose, caramel, apricot, and licorice with a hint of vanilla, sandalwood and jasmine. While it cannot be eaten raw, cooked quince, which turns from ivory to ruby red, offers plenty of culinary possibilities. Toss peeled halves in lemon juice, cover with a scented sugar syrup (1 cup sugar, 2 cups water, 2 cloves, vanilla, which is enough for 4 quinces) and either simmer it gently or bake it at 300F till the fruit softens. Let it cool in its juices and store in the fridge. Prepared this way, quince can be eaten Turkish style garnished with clotted cream and chopped walnuts. It is also delicious used in pies, crumbles, and sorbets; served along with cheese, yogurt or ice cream, roast duck or lamb.

Flavor affinities: sweet spices (cinnamon, clove, vanilla, nutmeg, star anise), cardamom, bay leaf, dried figs, apples, sheep milk cheese, rosewater, brown sugar, caramel, brandy, pistachios, walnuts.

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Bittersweet and lusciously smooth, redolent of roasted nuts and foiled in delicate spicy notes, alluding to late August roses and ripe berries…. The contrasting and intriguing flavors present in a piece of fine chocolate are the reason for its irresistible allure. Those who love chocolate would not be surprised that more than 2000 years ago the Maya Indians not only created the first beverage from the crushed cocoa beans, but also built temples embellished with images of the cocoa pod. Michelle has vividly described the beautiful marriage of olfactory and gustatory pleasures inherent in chocolate. I would like to continue the discussion by offering an overview of perfumes that beautifully explore the idea of chocolate, whether they actually rely on chocolate aroma-materials or create the effect via other notes. I hope that my list will go beyond the usual feminine gourmand offerings and will inspire even those who do not have a particularly strong sweet tooth.…

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by Michelle Krell Kydd

Chocolate is proof that happiness can be bought and there has never been a better time to be a chocolate lover. As the gourmet chocolate market continues to grow, the emphasis on what makes a particular chocolatier’s creations haute vary. For some companies, the focus is on varietals and cacao content, and for others the addition of natural flavor materials is equally important to pedigree and strength. For those who love perfume, some of the most interesting creations available today come from Michel Richart, a chocolatier who incorporates floral fragrance materials in his chocolates…

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by Michelle Krell Kydd

Saffron is a spice that needs no introduction. It infuses whatever it touches with a distinct golden hue, adding an aroma that resembles the commingling of hay, honeyed musk, leather and almonds. To taste saffron is to know how unnecessary words are in the vocabulary of pure joy. From discovery to repeated exposure, the flavor and fragrance of saffron is continuously revelatory, like a great passion that leaves one yearning for more. …

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While working on a new project, I have been delving deeper into the chemistry, the science of olfaction as well as taste. During my weekend reading of Harold McGee’s Food & Cooking: an Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture, I came across a quote that explains the relationship between taste and olfaction in a very clear and simple manner. “The olfactory receptors in our nasal passages can detest many hundreds of volatile molecules that are small and chemically repelled by water, and therefore fly out of the food and into the air in our mouth. The sensations from our mouth give us an idea of a food’s basic composition and qualities, while our sense of smell allows us to make much finer discriminations” (270).

As a side note, I cannot recommend Food & Cooking: an Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture highly enough. I was given the book as a present by a fellow foodie to consult as one would an encyclopedia, that is, to read bits and pieces as the need would arise. Instead, I started reading this 800 page volume cover to cover, without losing my interest and all the while being amazed by McGee’s incredible knowledge. The book also provides enough fascinating information to those who are interested in fragrance. Can you guess what Serge Lutens’s Bois de Violette and Pinor Noir have in common?  Read on for an answer…

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