Food & Fragrance: 176 posts

Gourmand sensations provide plenty of inspiration for perfumers. Witness the savory darkness of truffles in Tom Ford’s Black Orchid, the caramelized popcorn note in Miss Dior Chérie and the milk chocolate notes in Elixir des Merveilles, the recent Hermès release. Likewise, chefs are taking an inspiration from perfumery. The restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain makes desserts that imitate the fragrance of famous perfumes. To be honest, the first time I read about the Gucci Envy scented dessert, the idea sounded outlandish. Yet I recently found myself staring at a package of chicken when a whiff of Serge Lutens’s Arabie which I wore that day inspired me to experiment a bit. Why not take the spicy-fruity idea of Arabie and twist it around a roasted chicken dish? …

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Black pepper as a fragrance note (Armani Privé Bois d’Encens, Hermès Poivre Samarcande, Lorenzo Villoresi Piper Nigrum, by way of example) has a vibrant character — citrusy, resinous and ever so slightly smoky. It is not the rasping sensation of pepper powder, but the warm woody dryness of a dark glossy berry. When cooking, I often crush the peppercorns just to inhale their aroma. Needless to say, from steak coated in pepper to ripe strawberries dusted with sugar and freshly ground spice, black pepper finds its way into numerous dishes. A Spanish inspired potato salad is a dish that allows me to enjoy the perfume of pepper to the fullest.

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Few desserts can compete with the perfection of a ripe peach. Topping it with a dollop of crème fraîche is like gilding a lily, but if one seeks utter indulgence, it is the ultimate recipe. The melting sweetness of peach and the tartness of cream were made for each other, resulting in a beautiful balance of flavors.

In cooking, like in perfumery, an interesting sensation can be created by combining either two complementary notes or two dissonant ones. In the case of peaches and cream, the flavor of both is highly dependent on the creamy, milky notes. (If you’re curious to dig deeper, this flavor occurs thanks to the presence of lactones, a diverse group of organic compounds with creamy nuances; lactone is derived from the Latin lac, lact-, which means milk.)

If peaches and cream form a perfect gustatory marriage, nothing can serve as better inspiration for exploring peach notes in fragrance, especially when they appear as a luscious accent, rather than as a canned fruit salad.

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Whenever I reach for Keiko Mecheri Gourmandises, I anticipate the moment when its beautiful saffron laced rose begins to unfold. That aspect of the composition has such a delectable character that I cannot but think of other ways to enjoy it. Indeed, a perfect way to savor the lush, honeyed roses paired with the medicinal, leathery saffron is when they are embroidered upon the creamy canvass of yogurt. The ambrosial quality of shrikhand, an Indian dessert popular in Gujarat and Maharashtra, is addictive. …

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Some of my early memories are of smells and tastes: the taste of the first summer strawberries, of apricot stolen from a neighbor’s garden, of warm rye bread for which I had to stand in line for half an hour, of mozzarella di bufala purchased from the store owner in Forlì who had secret intentions of marrying me to his son. It is difficult to imagine how to separate what came first, but the scents fascinate me, wherever they occur.

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