Showing posts with label saffron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saffron. Show all posts

Friday, January 8, 2021

Penhaligon's Babylon: fragrance review

 
Babylon is a quite a "new and now" launch  by Penhaligon's, a Harrods' exclusive till January 2021, but I was lucky enough to secure some and am wearing it right now to better grasp its messages. By no means revolutionary, this spicy oriental feels like the polished woods of Duchaufour's compositions that have made an indelible impression to the world of upscale perfumery. Cypriol oil (known also as nagarmotha in southeastern Asia) dominates. You might recognize it from the oddly and unjustly doomed Magnifique by Lancome (2008) or from the critically acclaimed Timbuktu by L'Artisan Parfumeur (2004). In Babylon it's sweetened and caressed in warm, soft milky notes and vanilla, with an undertone of spices, of which saffron gives a subtle iodine touch. It's evocative of autumnal joys and middle-eastern images.


 

Housed in Penhaligon's distinctive ribbon-wrapped glass flacon, and full of saturated tones of warm red, teal and gold, the till now obscure Babylon eau de parfum enters the scene in big strides. It takes inspiration from Eastern spices to create an oriental scent, part of the Trade Routes Collection inspired by popular stop-overs on the Silk Route.

This is probably thought of as part of a grander plan of the company owning the brand; reaching out to people who shop for gifts at luxury stop-overs to and from the Emirates and/or other luxurious destinations. There the airport boutiques are decked to the nines in gold and gilt. The collection has therefore "Arabian perfumery style" written all over it. Halfeti was one I reviewed in the past and I like it, but I think Babylon is even more to my style.


 

I would have liked it to be more conceptual, as the potential is there for sure, but the execution is nevertheless flawless.Babylon eau de parfum is delicious and persistent and is felt like a confident aura rising from the skin. It possesses that alluring quality that Ambre Narguile (Hermessences) and Spicebomb Extreme (Viktor & Rolf) also exude, particularly that smoky warmth, beckoning you closer to better fill your receptive olfactory organ with the evaporating goodness.

The beautiful whiskey-like color of the liquid is darker than shown in pictures and beautifully matches the scent; it's as if you're led to take a sip of a rich liquor and get intoxicated, while reading an oriental cylindric seal depicting the lord god Marduc.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

L'Artisan Parfumeur Saffran Troublant: fragrance review

Although saffron and roses are a favorite combination in many a niche fragrance offering these days, back in 2002, when Safran Troublant actually launched, it was unusual and arresting. Typically with L'Artisan Parfumeur, the road was laid for other travelers to travel through; paths well trodden and less explored alike, but the French brand founded by perfumer Jean Laporte in the late 1970s was a pioneer.

via Pinterest

Safran Troublant, if not marking high on the novelty value impressions score nowadays, still is an arresting scent, if only because it manages to balance the precarious precipice of clandestine smolder and comforting warmth. Roses are not especially simpatico for various reasons, but when given the sheath of a pitch-black collaborator, such as leather, or patchouli, or aoudh or -indeed- saffron, I stand on attention and pay my respects.

There's something about Safran Troublant, at once mouthwatering and "troubling" as its moniker in French denotes. The lactonic creaminess it projects recalls eating rosewater puddings with vanilla, someplace East. The suede-like saffron spice is enhanced by the depths of an irresistibly cozy, musky embrace that draws you in closer. Oddly enough it creates desire to the same degree that it quenches it; a discreet fragrance you might take for granted, like one's mainstay in the wardrobe, but leaving you with the renewed sensation of always looking at it with eyes afresh.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Scent on Canvas Rose Opera: fragrance review

It was the explosion of beauty in a field of saffron that captured the senses of perfumer Jórdi Fernandez. The romance of rose and saffron stamens recall the passions of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra, who infamously perfumed themselves with saffron before their romantic encounters. It was this reference which Beatrice Aguilar brought to the table to discuss further with Fernandez for the creation of this woody floral fantasy, Rose Opéra.

The scent oscillates between floral and woody-herbal with exotic woody notes (vetiver and patchouli) in the base, allied to a mossy feeling of walking through a forest with autumnal mulch on the floor. This gives a tilt into rosy chypre fragrances, but it is the cool-spicy and smoothly suede feel of the saffron essence which keeps Rose Opéra from being a full-blown retro rose and feels at home in the contemporary category of sophisticated, complex floral scents.

Cleopatra's Banquet as per Pliny's tale (wiki)

The first impression is at once fresh and floral, due to the Calabrian bergamot and the fruity notes of wild strawberries. Pepper rose, cardamom and macis (also known as the nutmeg flower) round off the mid notes of the perfume. Other ingredients are jasmine, artemisia, tagete and rose of Turkey, which unveils a mix of cedar wood, roots of vetiver with touches of patchouli and oak moss. The fragrance remains elegant, with a mysterious touch of twilight.

The new niche collection "Scent on Canvas" so far includes five perfumes created by an eclectic mix of perfumers: Jórdi Fernandez (for Rose Opéra and Noir de Mars), Shyamala Maisondieu (Ocre Doré) , Alexandra Kosinski (Brun Sicilien) and the founder, Beatrice Aguilar herself (Blanc de Paris). The collection spans five fragrance genres with nuanced olfactory work within them: the starchy, woody musk, a predetermined crowd-pleaser (Blanc de Paris); the dark musty-mossy with guts (Noir de Mars); the mysterious, coppery woody (Ocre Doré); the rosy floral with mysterious, spicy-suede tonalities (Rose Opéra) and the complex hesperidic-leathery (Brun Sicilien). Each fragrance is accompanied by a painting by a well-known painter who is inspired by the aromatics in the composition, then the painting is turned into an engraving which is used for the packaging of the fragrance: the inside of the box holds the engraving ready to be framed and hung on your walls.

Notes for Rose Opéra by Scent on Canvas:
Top: Calabrian bergamot, wild berries, jasmine, armoise, Turkish rose, tagete
Heart: Spanish saffron, cardamom, pink pepper, nutmeg flower,
Base: cyperus scariosus, Virginian cedar, Javanese vetiver, Peruvian lentisque, patchouli, oakmoss, incense.

The perfumes are priced at 130 Euros for 100 ml of perfume/eau de parfum (only Blanc de Paris is an Eau de Parfum by design, the rest are extrait de parfum). A great value sample pack of all 5 scents is offered for only 10 euros online at the official e-shop. More information: scentoncanvas.com




Thursday, July 25, 2013

Penhaligon's Vaara: fragrance review & free perfume atomiser giveaway

Had I been blindfolded while testing the latest Penhaligon's fragrance, Vaara, I would have immediately proclaimed "Bertrand Duchaufour" upon released and that wouldn't be in some erotic rapture 50 Shades of Grey perfume style, but in familiar recognition of the perfumer's patte all over the perfume. Is this a bad thing? Read on please, dear reader.

Duchaufour, like Jean Claude Ellena, moves his accords and ideas around, exploring them, revisiting, pushing them to their natural and unnatural limits all the time; on one level, the hallmark of a true artist. Whereas Ellena has the luxury of doing it within the context of one company, since his in-house tenure at Hermès, Duchaufour seems at the flummox of some orgasmic productivity; to map out the sheer volume of the man's creations in the last 5 years alone would take a considerable effort worthy of an ultra-conscientious librarian. And whereas some of them are questionable in their repercussions, the end result is usually what we perfume aficionados refer to -favorably- as a "transparent oriental perfume", namely a composition that can't be faulted for being too thick or dense to be wearable under the most casual of moods, nor the most refined of occasions.

Vaara by Penhaligon's is one such thing, a very deftly aerated meringue of a scent, uniting a lightly gourmand scent impression with rose, like a loukoum nugget. A moutwatering effect which has prompted originaldeftdom on Fragrantica to liken Duchaufour to Heston Blumenthal. Of course Duchaufour is no stranger to this alliance of true minds: rose and saffron is a classic Middle-Eastern and Indian combination (rose is making a comeback as a perfume note of late anyway) and the well-known perfumer has explored the lightly suede/leather-smelling facets of the precious stamens when used with rose in both Traversée du Bosphore for L'Artisan Parfumeur as well as in Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations previously. (It is important to note that this is an interpretation far removed from the mossy-chypre and more aggressive Agent Provocateur eau de parfum which also explores the accord of saffron & rose).
Indeed many of the official notes are, if not the same, then quite close in all three compositions by the sleight-handed Bertrand (for instance the carrot seed note, referenced in Mohur too reflects the iris, ambrette is a kind of musk, the edible, lightly fruity çay note from Traversée gets a quince jelly treatment here, quince being close to apple and so on...). At least the geographical direction points the compass consistently to the East; near or far, it doesn't matter much to the Parisian and the Londoner who flock to buy Duchaufour's creations. Of course the press release goes on and on about the travels that Duchaufour has gone to, to get inspired by India in all its glory. (At this rate, he must know the area like the palm of his hand by now!)

the quirky Bertrand and the suave Maharaja (don't you just love the turquoise jacket)

The name Vaara means both "blessing" and "breeze" and stands for the granddaughter of His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II; the perfume was commissioned to celebrate her birth and the family’s love for the city of Jodhpur and was inspired by the Royal House of Marwar-Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India. For the launch, earlier in July, the Penhaligon's boutique in London was filled with images of Jodpur to mirror the chronology of the journey, the fragrance profiling room turned into a Rajasthani spice market with drawings from perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour’s notebook, photos taken at the market and the raw ingredients of Vaara.

The quince and coriander are the dominant allies to the rose-saffron accord in Penhaligion's Vaara scent and enhance it without drowning it. The lightly sweetish message after the top note has dissipated, warm and skin-scent-like is quite delicious with no screech from the flower notes (peony and freesia, two synthetically recreated "notes" are often a culprit).

Vaara despite the repetition of themes and the cliché exotic promo isn't just bon pour l'Orient. It's bon, period.

Notes for Vaara by Penhaligon's:
Top: quince, rose water, carrot seeds, coriander seed and saffron.
Heart: Moroccan rose absolute, Bulgarian rose oil, freesia, Indian magnolia, iris and peony
Base: honey, white musk, cedarwood, sandalwood, benzoin resin and tonka bean.

Available at Penhaligon's boutiques and online at 85 GBP for 50ml/1.7oz of Eau de Parfum, 120 GBP for 100ml/3.4oz.

  For our readers, I have a generous and sleek travel atomiser of Penhaligon's Vaara for one lucky winner. Draw is open internationally till Friday 27th midnight. Winner to be announced in the weekend. Enter a comment to be eligible.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Leather scents, Best Rose fragrances & scented delights, Bertrand Duchaufour perfumes.

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent the sample for reviewing purposes by the company.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur: fragrance review

Perfumery was so developed during the Mogul era in india that the most powerful empress of the Mughal dynasty, Noor Jahan popularly known as Mehrunissa, devoted herself to perfecting it during her days of confinement after the death of her husband, emperor Jehangir.  Mohur (pronounced mə-ˈhu̇r) by niche perfume line Neela Vermeire Créations is inspired by this period and named after the golden coin minted during the Moghal and the British rule of the country. In fact, one can still see the largest mohur coin ever smithed displayed at the British Museum, a 1000 mohur from the reign of Jehangir (1605-1628).  I'm saying all this to confirm that Mohur is a regal perfume; majestic, opulent, marmoreal, founded  in powdery rose and oud, yes, but buoyed by spices (cardamom), a note of smooth suede (via saffron) and light, vegetal musk. The rosy blossom performs double duty: symbol of the territories around the Middle East, but also synonymous with the "English rose".



The magnificence of Neela's Mohur lies in its surpassing and transcendence of olfactory tropes: where rose usually reads as dusty, like pot pouri, it is in Mohur elevated into jammy and lightly powdery; where oud in contemporary fragrances usually smells like Band Aids, here it is discreet and only reinforces the earthiness; and finally where the two combined would end up feeling deja vu, a classical tradition seen a hundred  times  over  thanks to every niche (and some non niche) firm of the last decade, this marriage by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour feels neoteric. Although the composition feels radiant and classically French at moments (I was briefly reminded of the feel of the classic Madame Rochas perfume and of aubepine aldehyde, then more potently of the rose and saffron in the original Agent Provocateur eau de parfum), with a lightly soapy facet, Mohur satisfies both the lover of soft woody florals and the one who is after an orientalized take on rose. The richness of the floral accords creates the rich facade of a temple where the vibrancy of the tiles beckons you to come closer to fully experience them. The depth of the spicy and earthy notes recalls mendhi decorations on the nimble hands of Shriya Saran. And the plush is evocative of silk cushions at some old palace in Rajastan where the British find themselves mesmerized strangers to a mysterious land.

Interestingly, the dabbing method yields more of the saffron rose impression of Mohur, while the spraying method accounts for the French soapy aldehydic segment which is less detectable on dried down skin. Less predictably exotic than Trayee and Bombay Bling, but nevertheless a refined, golden fragrance for those who can appreciate the mastery of true artists. It was enough to have my rose-hesitant heart ambushed and kept captive.

Mohur is part of the original trio of fragrances issued by Neela Vermeire Créations which also includes Trayee and Bombay Bling (the fourth instalment, Ashoka, is launching soon). These Indian inspired perfumes, like Chants of India, draw upon the tradition, history and cultural milieu of that vast Eastern sub-continent in which Neela herself has roots. These are truly "transparent orientals", modern and wearable, and therefore it comes as no surprise that Neela commissioned Bertrand Duchaufour to compose them for her niche line.

Notes for Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur:
Cardamom, coriander, ambrette, carrot, black pepper, elemi, Turkish rose oil, jasmine, orris, hawthorn, almond milk accord, leather, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oudh Palao from Laos, benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean



Mohur is available as an Eau de Parfum 55ml (in refillable flacons), available at select stockists and on www.neelavermeire.com, where you can find a discovery set. As of mid-2013 a new parfum version of Mohur will be available as well.

Disclosure: I was sent a sample by Neela.


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Dries van Noten par Frederic Malle: new fragrance & draw

Frédéric Malle has a few tricks up his elegant sleeve for catering to jaded perfume lovers still. In a new project involving collaborating with various designers, offering his editorial skills and his liaisons with the best perfumers in the business, I learned that Malle is going to launch a line of eponymous designer scents that go off the beaten path. The first fruit of this collaboration is a fragrance for Dries Van Noten, one of the pioneers of the Antwerp "School of Six". The collaboration isn't that out of the blue as one would think: Van noten distributes fragrances in the Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle in his boutiques for some time now; Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle is the natural outcome.





Although the formula was being developed for the past year and was originally set for an autumn 2012 launch the perfectionism of Malle prevailed and the launch is set for February 15th. But that's not all.

Not only is the collaboration with a fashion designer news, it's also an innovation on the formula front, as the new Malle perfume is touted to be inclusive of a new, natural Indian sandalwood from a sustainable source. Indian sandalwood, for those who didn't know, had essentially been eradicated from perfumery in the last 20 years or so, due to concerns and regulations on the sustainability of the Mysore sandalwood. The news therefore is a leap of hope for the industry in general and sure to create a real peak of interest in the heart of every perfume fan out there. The new fragrance is an oriental woody, smooth and polished like the designs of Van Noten.

The composition has been undertaken by rising perfumer Bruno Jovanovich of International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) The fragrance notes for the upcoming Dries van Noten par Frédéric Malle are citron, sandalwood, guaiac wood, saffron, Spanish jasmine, tonka beans, Cashmeran/blonde woods, vanilla and musk.

As you can see the presentation of the bottle is also different than the rest of the Malle portfolio, as this is a separate line.

A lab batch sample is trickling my way and after a percursory sniff I'd love to offer it to one of our readers before its official launch. Please enter a comment with any of your thoughts on the Malle line or on sandalwood, or anything perfume related and I will draw a winner on Thursday.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Guerlain Encens Mythique d'Orient: fragrance review

The main criticism upon announcing the news on the Arabian inspired triptych by Guerlain, affectionately termed "Les Deserts d'Orient", has been that should this exclusive-laced foray into Middle Eastern market tastes prove successful, it would herald a stop to French companies offering "French-smelling" perfumes. Having the privilege of savoring the new fragrances at leisure, thanks to the generosity of my Middle East readers, I'm in the happy position to let you know this is not the case and wouldn't be, if Guerlain continues in the direction they've taken with Encens Mythique d'Orient especially. The perfume is redolent of the splendor and richness of the east, yes, but it firmly holds on the patrimonies of the west as well, translating as a very decadent, European-geared animalic oriental with mossy proclivities.

 

 It comes as a sort of an exquisite shock to see that whereas Guerlain new head perfumer Thierry Wasser had been taxed with selling Guerlain short in the first couple of releases under his name -which were baptism by fire for him- he has proven now that he's capable of both refinement and modernization without eschewing tradition (as in the solar floral Lys Soleia) as well as in offering the baroque treatment with the taste for exquisite balance and quality for which Guerlain perfumes had become famous the world over. Much like Shalimar, Mitsouko or Vol de Nuit before it, Encens Mythique d'Orient is inspired by exoticism but it retains at heart a core of tradition which distinguishes it from upstarts to the throne (Montale etc.) Wasser has found a balance between what the Arabs will find somewhat familiar, yet tinged with the desirable Franco-laced "western cachet" and what the Westerners, flocking to the flagship boutique on Champs Elysees for precious juice, will find inspired by the 1001 Nights.

 Even though Encens Mythique d'Orient is allegedly inspired by frankincense, there is little of the ecclesiastical citrus-laced, terpenic smoke we have come to associate with high mass or niche fragrances aimed at aficionados of this pious, somber ambience. Rather ambergris is the real protagonist, in what smells like a real tincture of the rare greyish matter, with all its nutty, buttery, smoky and salty intimate nuances intact, blooming on the skin like a hundred kisses from the soft lips of a handsome sheik. The mood is animalic, sexy, decadent and very "there" without becoming skanky or vulgar, though I expect hyper-sensitive to intimate acts of pleasure individuals upon smelling it will be clutching their pudenda self-consciously pronto.

 Guerlain gives what incense is there the Guerlain treatment (with a nod to Lutens as well) and weaves richness and depth in their typical patisserie way, full of billows of raw materials which fuse East and West into an amalgam, a tapestry with a million themes. The opening of Encens Mythique is reminiscent of retro shaving foam, part retro fern-like and mossy, part musky sweet, with a very decadent, rich feel to it that stems from an oriental Damask rose. The rosiness is allied to saffron, a classical combination that exalts the bittersweet facets of the spice into a warm embrace. But it is the coalescence of ambergris and muskiness which "makes" the perfume a true Guerlain and at the same time a reverie into the Middle East.

 The sillage and lasting power are great; you certainly get your buck's worth in investing in this fragrance. I'm smitten!

 

The Guerlain perfume bottles of Les Deserts d'Orient are adorned with Arab-cript calligraphy down one side, the French names down the other side. They are the tall, architectural style of the collection L'Art et la Matière with the antique gold overlay on the sides holding 75ml of perfume. The concentration of the fragrances is Eau de Parfum for tenacity. Prices are set for 190euros/AED990 per bottle. The perfume was aimed to be available exclusively in the UAE and the Guerlain flagship store. Also via the connections of Wim in Parfumerie Place Vendome in Brussels, and in the UK in Harrods for 160GBP.

 Painting by Norman Lindsay, Languor or the Pink Drape (1934)

Monday, February 6, 2012

Agent Provocateur by Agent Provocateur: fragrance review

When the first Agent Provocateur perfume first launched in 2000 in its ostrich-egg-sized pink bottle, little did one expect that the scent within would be atavitistic to the lineage of impressionable floral chypres of yore. Chypres, a perfumy and mossy family of fragrances, had been effectively extinguished from a whole generation's memory by then (relegated to mothers and grandmothers who continued to wear their signature scents discovered decades ago) and were incomprehensible things to another: surely this was a doomed project? Who in their trendy minds remembered or wore Shiseido Inoui, Balenciaga Cialenga, K de Krizia, never mind Mitsouko or Miss Dior?

But curiously enough, it caught on!

Why it Worked
Agent Provocateur is a lingerie brand teetering on the edge of campy and they made ample use of that element to promote their fragrant wares. To quote Adentures of a Barbarella: "They aspire to be kinky, elegant, sophisticated, and somewhere along the line it goes wrong. Their clientele is stuck up, their models are either socialites or Russian escorts (it's a fine line), and they sold out last year. The depraved tone of the campaigns can be hilarious". But after all, what's the point of racy lingerie if you take yourself too seriously, right?

But the thing is their first fragrance is sexy as hell, a bit retro, a bit modern, and all around brave and great, considering they launched at the end of the aquatic/ozonic brigade of the 1990s and the advent of cupcakes-from-hell of the 00s. It's deservedly something of a cult favourite, if only for the fact that it was so very different.


Scent Description
The big Moroccan rose in Agent Provocateur's heart, much like in classic Jean Couturier's Coriandre from the 1970s, is complimented by a paper-y woody note of amber and vetiver combined with warm musks, but it is the saffron along with the upbeat coriander that bring a rather animalic and weirdly "dirty" quality to the fragrance making it the olfactory equivalent of an aged Hollywood star the morning after she has had a rampant night in bed with a nostalgizing fan half her years.

This is a perfume to wear sparingly (it can be big), but it won't change much during the day and after the initial impression it dries down to an erotic and  skin-friendly, skin-compatible nuzzling buzz.
Agent Provocateur original EDP is in hindsight similar to many fragrances which followed, so if you like any of them you should give the great-aunt a try: Gres Cabaret, Lady Vengeance by Juliette has a Gun, Narciso Rodriguez Narciso for Her EDT.

Available as Eau de Parfum from major department stores.

Flankers & Stuff
The brand has brought out variations on the theme with:  Agent Provocateur Eau Emotionelle (EDT from 2006), Agent Provocateur L'Eau Provocateur (new, lighter interpetation for spring 2012), Agent Provocateur L'Agent (2011) and Agent Provocateur L'Agent L'Eau Provocateur (spring 2012) in similar pink-ostrich-egg bottles. They can differ quite a bit with L'Agent being a woody floral musk.
Nota bene that the quite different fragrance by the same brand called Maitresse is also having a lighter flanker edition for spring 2012, called -you guessed it- Agent Provocateur Maitresse L'Eau Provocateur.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hilde Soliani Acquiilsssssima, Doolciiisssimo, Freschiiissimo, Saaaliiisssiimo: fragrance review exclusive

When we had introduced Hilde Soliani and her niche line of perfumes to the English-speaking world, little did we know she would become something of a cult figure, especially after the introduction of her second line of perfumes inspired by her theatrical performances in Parma. Our past choice of a suave, hedonically smoking Humphrey Bogart for illustrating Bell'Antonio proved such a hit, that a respected online decanter chose the pic to feature the scent and even Hilde herself run away with it on her official presentations! But it's not surprising to us that someone as classic and unique as Boggie should front one of her scents: Hilde's fragrances have something unusual about them even within tired genres such as the fruity floral, the gourmand or the tobacco masculine: they brought a touch of Inglese Italionato e un diavolo incarnato ~the sensibilities of an Italian brand yet garlanded with an international spin that makes them instantly recognisable across the boards, caressing memories of childhood and impressing with its panache: The effect of a Maseratti smirking secure in its beauty at a group of gasping Fiats. Someone is doing a pretty good job in that Parma laboratory!

Hilde Soliani's upcoming fragrance line, exclusively previewed/reviewed on Perfume Shrine today, is called Profumo e Gusto in Libertà and is inspired by her love of haute cuisine, which is as Italian as Marcello Mastroianni or Monica Vitti are. Indeed nary does one need to sit at a small local trattoria in the greater Lombardia area to appreciate that for Italians food is perfume for the mouth! The four new Hilde Soliani fragrances inspired by this cultural tradition are: Acquiilssssima, Doolciiisssimo, Saaliiisssiimo, Freschiiissimo ~everything is onomastically attenuated to an hyperbole because they denote the pleasure one derives from refined flavours (although if I am anything to go by, I predict one hell of a confusion when trying to spell for someone or online, but let's not be grumpy); one after the other they are meant to interpret the watery, the sweet, the salty and the fresh/tangy. Let's take them one by one!

*I found myself transfixed by the succulent and rich tobacco ambience that Doolciiisssimo exudes. Hilde divulged that the idea began by la crema catalana with tobacco leaves which she had first eaten in Milan ~too scrumptious for words, apparently and by Jove if you have even the tiniest affinity for the hedonic bouquet of a good cigar with its gingerbread and honeyed tones, then don't walk, run to secure a sample or a bottle of the Doolciiisssimo. Though I normally look at sweet fragrances with a certain disdain due to overexposure to cavity-inducing potions that float around giving me a diabetic coma by association, this perfume is nowehere near what one would call "sweeeeeetest" (which is what its Italian name means). In fact a striking dissonance between name and composition is what makes it mouthwatering and one of the best gourmands I smelled recently: The cut-hay and almonds feel of tonka beans is made richer by vanilla (Madagascar absolute) while retaining a little tobacco and cherry-pie tonality due to currants/ribes. If you have liked Bell'Antonio and Vecchi Rosetti [reviews linked] you are probably going to like Doolciiisssimo too; and if you found the former a bit much in the woody department, then you're also nicely set.

*Acquiilsssssima has a personal story in the background: Claudio Sadler, the famous chef, create a dish for Hilde's birthday which she cunningly took as a point of departure for a "beach air" scent: If you have ever eaten at a small taverna on a Greek island (click for pic) under the shady pines with gaily vibrant geraniums and lush jasmines potted all around and the salty remnants of a sea-dip still on your tanned, tired arms then you would know how Acquiilssssima feels! The salty tang comes from seaweed and its marriage to jasmine is akin to taking a boat to the isles. But what is most interesting is that I detect a little oakmoss in the background, that chypre tonality which blends so well in our hot climate and which provides the murky backdrop to a composition that is otherwise full of watery and light notes.

*Freschiiissimo on the other hand is unusually refreshing, eshewing the customary watery notes for a cool blast of "short" spices such as ginger allied with lime, which gives an effarvescent quality to the fragrance, like champagne bubbles bursting on the surface of one's taste buds in a sorbet quenchingly devoured after some vigorous samba on the dance-floor.

*Last but not least, Saaliiiissssiimo is taking a dare with an uncustomary composition which oscillates between the salty and refreshing undercurrent of vetiver grass and the golden bitterness of saffron as well as the caramelised bittersweet note of licorice (in itself reminiscent of anise). The feel of that fragrance is lightly salty and woody with a starchy feel, full of comforting saffrony risotto stuffed with peas and homemade broth. There is also dill listed, but I confess that I could not detect it prominently.

The new Hilde Soliani fragrances come in Eau de Parfum concentration in 100ml diaphanous glass bottles and will be featured shortly in New London Pharmacy and Luckyscent (where the rest of her fragrances are already carried, check them out).

On Sunday 21 June starting at 5pm at Desenzano del Garda (bs) the Profumeria Parolari will hold a special event with Hilde Soliani: Come and enjoy 7 different flavours of ice-cream inspired by the scents of the older and the new perfume collection called Profumo e Gusto in Libertà (Perfume and Taste Liberated!). The flavours are: Acquiilssssima, Doolciiisssimo, Saaliiisssiimo, Freschiiissimo, Sipario (pina-colada-like), Stecca (inspired by tomato vines) and Fragola salata. At 6pm Hilde will give an interview and there will be singing. Sounds like an evening fit for all of us Italionatos!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Hilde Soliani reviews: 1) Il Mio Daisy/Ti Amo Line (Tulipano, Iris, Margerita, Anemone, Ortensia), 2) Teatro Olfactiva line (Bell'Antonio, Vecchi Rosetti, Stecca, Mangiamo dopo Teatro, Sipario).

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent a sample of each scent from the manufacturer.
Pic of Marcello Mastroianni and Monica Vitti via hyper-ware.com. Crema catalan via rusticpalate.com
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Friday, January 9, 2009

Cimabue by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz (Parfums des Beaux Arts): fragrance review

From the effulgent Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna as seen in the warm light of noon to the incadescent Scrovegni Chapel frescoes by Giotto in Padua during the cool silence of a winter afternoon, Italian art is infused with the resplendent light of the South which never fails to draw a beatific expression out of me. That golden light has been captured in a fragrance called Cimabue by independent niche perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. Cenni di Pepo (Giovanni) Cimabue (c. 1240 — c. 1302) was the artist to bridge the opulence of Byzantium with the insight, knowledge and brilliance of the Renaissance and counted Giotto among his students. Cimabue, the fragrance, is characterised by Dawn as "my Saffron note étude" but it provides a porthole into her greater agilité in various techniques. It's no coincidence that Dawn began her career as a painter progressing to work at Boston's famed ESSENSE Perfumery and imbuing her perfumes with fine art principles (texture, color, line, light, shape, and expression) in her own line, Parfums des Beaux Arts, LLC.

Cimabue (pronounced chim-a-boo-way, according to Dawn) had first come to my attention through a perfume enthusiast and online friend who sent me a sample some time ago. I recall I was favourably impressed and left it at that. But now that the Saffron Series has caught up with me, what better time to revisit and explore the intricasies that weave throughout its composition?
Cimabue materialized out of love: the love of a perfumer to her clients. When a lover of Safran Troublant sent a request to Dawn to make something comparable, Dawn set out to create Cimabue. Yet Cimabue is not a rip off Safran Troublant, but rather a spicier, richer, enigmatic interpretation that spans the spectrum from honeyed floral to bittersweet spicy to luscious oriental much like the colours of those frescoes take on different shades depending on the light cast.

Cimabue begins on complex citrus , immediately flanked by unctuous saffron with the feel of aromatized olive oil for a creamy, starchy Carnaroli risotto. Although there are flowers' essences in the composition, none emerges prominently, instead undulating into layers that are folded in the spice mix. The smell of clove, cardamom and nutmeg slither when Cimabue takes on the skin, then the sandalwood, vanilla and sweet powder combine in a classic milky gourmand drydown that accounts for a very warm and pleasantly sweet ambience with average lasting power.
Cimabue should please spice lovers as well as gourmand lovers and will bring a little warmth in the depths of winter.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Cimabue notes:
Top: Bergamot, bitter orange, cardamom, clementine, Italian neroli, lemon, nutmeg
Middle: carnation absolute, cinnamon bark, clove bud, Egyptian Rose geranium, Grandiflorum jasmine, honey beeswax, Moroccan rose absolute, Mysore sandalwood, Saffron absolute, Tuberose absolute
Bottom: Ciste absolute, East Indian sandalwood, labdanum, oppopanax, Siam benzoin, Tahitian vanilla, Tamil Nadu sandalwood, vanilla absolute.

Cimabue is part of the more upscale collection Parfums des Beaux Arts (limited editions) and is available in various sizes: 0 .25 oz Eau de Parfum travel spray will set you back $27 while a limited edition flacon of extrait de parfum runs for $135 while a body butter and a foaming creame compliment the experience. Samples and sampler packs are also available on the DSH website.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Saffron Series

Painting of Madonna enthroned with the child, St Francis, St.Domenico and two Angels by Cimabue displayed in Galleria Uffici Florence courtesy of Christus Rex

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Golden Sunshine of Saffron 4: Saffron Fragrances (reviews)

Of all the spice notes, saffron with its bittersweet flavor is the one most opulently and oneirically represented in compositions that are highlighting its antithetical facets: sweet and leathery, acrid and rich. The impact is based on its inherent strong contrasts and juxtapositions, yet the aroma itself possesses a polished delicacy that distinguishs it amidst the concucopia of other gourmand or spicy scents. Here are some of the fragrances best highlighting saffron and its golden glory.

Safran Troublant by L'Artisan Parfumeur
In India it is customary to aromatize rice pudding with saffron stamens soaked in the milk used to make it. This composition by Olivia Giacobetti goes for the warm, pleasantly sweet facet of saffron imbued with the softness of vanilla and milky sandalwood. The simple and cozy aromatic mélange is brought to the boil by the addition of a slightly cumin-like note (although none is listed), raisin and rosewater. The Indian feast is closing with a decadent, sensuous dessert (with ambery undertones, slightly powdery accents) that doesn't stick around for long yet makes you appreciate the fact that here is where Kama (the art of love) was born.


Agent Provocateur by Agent ProvocateurWhen this fragrance first launched in 2000 in its ostrich-egg-sized pink bottle, little did one expect that the scent within would be atavitistic to the lineage of impressionable floral chypres of yore. The big Moroccan rose in its heart, much like in classic Jean Couturier's Coriandre from the 1970s, is complimented by a paper-y woody note of amber and vetiver combined with warm musks, but it is the saffron along with the upbeat coriander that bring a rather animalic and weirdly "dirty" quality to the fragrance making it the olfactory equivalent of an aged Hollywood star the morning after she has had a rampant night in bed with a nostalgizing fan half her years.

Al Nabha by Haramain
If Thaif rose mixed with Dehnal Oudh is your dream come true, then you will be well catered for with this exotic, musty mix of both these ancient aromas of the East recommended for men. Dehnal Oudh supposedly aids motivation and meditation as it brings communication with the transcendent and invokes a sense of strength and peace; but I find that it is the saffron accent that touches the earth with its juxtaposition of earthy delights to the spiritual ones of oudh. I feel that it is the perfect companion to studious winter solitude.
(if you want to find a dehnal oudh distributor in the West, try this link)

Black Tie by Washington Tremlett
The bold saffron note is brought into culmination through the combination with other spices and herbs (cardamom, sage and galbanum). The rose-geranium heart is effortlesly elegant, backed up by a woody vetiver-rich undercurrent that likens it to the husky-voiced Czech & Speake's No.88; yet the former's aura is quiter, more refined and the spice accents make it intriguing enough to render it unique in the current masculine selection; and very fitting to be worn by women as well!

Cuir de Lancome (re-issue)
The at once dense and soft aroma of quality suede is complimented admirably by the inherently leathery aspects of saffron, yet the whole is immersed in the translucence that precious labradorite possesses thanks to hesperidic touches of sweet mandarin and elegantly acrid bergamot. Perfumers Calice Becker and Pauline Zanoni have managed to make a reformulation that defies the disdain usually reserved for the former in that it succeeds to smell enticing and worthy of acquisition even if you are a fan of the vintage version.

Evening Edged in Gold by Ineke
Independent perfumer Ineke Ruhland has been creating a line of fragrances that follow the alphabet, as we mentioned while starting the ABCs with After my Own Heart. Evening Edged in Gold is the fifth in the series and although it has been praised for its rendering of exotic sweet and narcotic blossoms ~like Angel's Trumpet and suede-apricoty osmanthus~ via a stop at a perverse candy-story out of Alice in Wonderland, it is perhaps the bittersweet tang of saffron that holds it from becoming intoxicating to the point of no return, reminding me of the Maldon sea salt chocolate from the Paul A. Young chocolaterie in London.

Idole de Lubin
A pirate idea of boozy rum in a walnut-shell deep within a big leather sac, like a hidden treasure in the depths of some uncharted sea. Olivia Giacobetti had a streak of uncharacteristic epiphany: density in the playground of Safran Troublant, her other saffron scent. More masculine, less vanillic and cozy, Idole has sparkling facets of sweet spirits along with the lusciously dark, dry leathery and animalic background. If I truly loved amber fragrances some more, this could have been my companion on the snowy mountaintops of Kaimaktsalan while sipping saffron-infused black tea.

Opôné by Diptyque
Although I have never personally managed to wear this successfully and my decant has been relegated to the swap list, I find that the saffron and rose accord is potently showcased here for those who do not have access to the spice itself for educational purposes. Pot-pouri like, with rich damascones and damascenones ingredients, and rather dusty, Opôné was named after an ancient trade center in Somalia on the east coast of Africa, but this is a travel I would personally rather take on another medium.

Comme des Garçons 2 Man by Comme des Garçons
Composed by Marc Buxton in 2004 for Rei Kawakubo's brand of avant-garde tailoring, the fragrance has such radiance and clarity that the warm, smoky ambience never becomes the low-life den it could have been and even the incense does not veer it into the mystical; instead it remains suave and polished. The cumin, wood and vetiver elements compliment saffron in a masculine clarion to battle for the urbanized battlefield rather than muddy Bannockburn and I personally find that the modern warrior who would wear this one would definitely manage to steal a gaze of contemplation and interest from me.

Ta'if by Ormonde Jayne
Dates and pink pepper combine with golden saffron to evoke a stop on the way on the Silk Route with the slight green tinge of dampness of fallen leaves in a desert oasis. The unusual note of broom reminds me of the comparable treatment in Dior's forgotten marine-oriental Dune. More spicy than fruity, but with a clearly detectable honey rose heart that blooms lusciously in the warm air of a summery evening, Ta'if is one of the Ormonde Jayne fragrances that although I don't often wear I admire a lot and prefer to the rather lesser Orris Noir which also includes saffron.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Saffron Series


Photograph Afrique du Sud (1981 World Cultures) by Chris Perkins. Agent Provocateur advertisement via Parfum de Pub.

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Golden Sunshine of Saffron 3: from India to Paris and in your Plate

~reproduced* from "Le Monde d'Hermès: Spring-Summer 2008", compiled by guest writer AlbertCan

A Thread of Myth
The saffron road, with its trail of red gold, runs from India all the way to Faubourg Saint-Honoré. When Alexander the Great reached Kashmir, he pitched his camp on a grassy plain. In the morning, he beheld his army afloat upon an ocean of mauve flowers that had opened overnight and reached all the way to his tent and under the hooves of his horses. Suspecting some sorcery, he turned back, avoiding battle. So says the legend. In fact, the Supreme Commander of the Superstitious had simply spend the night in a field of crosues, in a crop of wild saffron that may well have been used to make Mongra and Lacha, the finest qualities of this spice anywhere in the world. Just a pinch--no more, for saffron is potent and costly--infuses a flavour of far horizons: Persia, the Atlas, Crete, the monks of Tibet, fabrics snapping in the wind of Calcutta and feasts fit for a king. Added to rice, immersed in stocks and sauces or soaked in milk, it has a complex taste--bitter, metallic, salty, with notes of hay and bark--and a fine yellow colour. "When choosing saffron, one should select broad, red, new-grown threads that are supple and fleshy to the touch, and yet dry, with a very aromatic odour." So wrote the expert for Diderot and d'Alemberts' Encyclopédie [1] and it was sage advice. For the world of saffron is full of powdered impostors, while genuine growths such as Zafferano dell'Aquila and Pennsylvania Dutch Saffron are rare. Its purple strands are the dried stigmas of the Crocus sativus, a member of the Iris family (Iridaceae) which flowers fashionably late, in October. It must be harvested by hand at dawn-and mibly too, so as not to damage the pistil. Shy and delicate it may be, but this confounded crocus has nevertheless made a place for itself in myth. The tale related the joint metamorphosis of two lovers--a handsome Arcadian youth, Krokos, or Crocus, and a nymph, Smilax--who were "changed into tiny flowers" [2]. A more tragic version tells of the accidental death of the said Crocus, when a discus thrown by a fond friend hit him on the head. Three drops of blood fell from the wound and fertilised the earth, brining forth a mauve flower with three red stigmas. The fond friend was Hermès.

--Text by Yves Nespoulous, Le Monde d'Hermès: Spring-Summer 2008, p.116.

[1]. Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie (1751-1772).
[2]. Ovid, Metamorphoses, book IV.

Saffron Ice Cream Recipe

For 1 litre of ice cream:

8 egg yolks
100 g of granulated sugar
750 ml of fresh full cream milk (or semi-skimmed for a lighter ice cream)
250 ml of creme fraiche
a few pistils of very good saffron

You will need a kitchen themometer marked in centigrade and an ice cream maker.

1.Bring the milk to the boil in a pan, then remove from the heat and allow the saffron to infuse for half an hour.
2.In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns white. Slowly pour in the warm milk, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon.
3.Wash the pan then pour in the mixture and heat it, stirring all the time, until the temperature reachers 87 degrees Celsius, then remove from the flame.
4.Add the cream, stir and pour the mixture through a fine strainer into a salad bowl. Leave to cool and then refrigerate overnight so that the flavours can blend properly.
5.The next day, freeze the mixture in the ice cream maker to give it a smooth, creamy texture. 6.Serve with a fruit salad and orange tuille biscuits (an important cooking rule: to keep the palate interested, it is always a good idea to combine crisp, soft and creamy ingredients).

*The "saddler's touch": using the same thin custard base (creme anglaise), you can make all kinds of unusual ice creams to serve with the first fruits of summer or the last ones of winter: saffron ice cream with orange salad, funnel ice cream with roasted figs, verbena ice cream with raspberries, etc. All you need to do is infuse the herb or spice or your choice in hot milk, and give your imagination free rein.

--Recipe by Élisabeth Larquetoux-Thiry, Le Monde d'Hermès: Spring-Summer 2008, p.116. Pic via DKI images.

For more saffron recipes: Mutton Buryani, Bouillabaise, Paella Valenciana, Mussels in a saffron white wine sauce
Visit the Glass Petal Smoke blog for another take on saffron.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Saffron Series

*Article reproduced with every reservation on matters of copyright infringement (none intended), while every possible credit is being given. Should you feel it should not be online, nevertheless, please email us for removal.

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Golden Red Sunshine of Saffron 2: Chemistry and Production

The sophisticated, bitter, almost iodine taste of saffron is a constant source of fascination to me. Crocus sativus, a member of the iris family and a similar-looking flower to the latter, contains the deep red style (the female sexual organ and the central part of the blossom) and the yellow stamina (the male sexual organ which doesn't possess a taste of its own). How can this complex, somewhat hay-like odour be possible through such an unlikely material? The answer lies in the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal.
The bitter glucoside picrocrocin (deriving from the Greek word πικρός/picros and approximately 4% in dried saffron) is responsible for saffron's flavour and is a precursor of safranal. Essentially it's the marriage of the terpene aldehyde safranal (systematic name: 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1- carboxaldehyde) and a carbohydrate which accounts for its formation. Saffron contains several carotenoids in fact: α- and β-carotene, lycopin and zeaxanthin. Safranal is a volatile oil, less bitter than picrocrocin and often comprises up to 70% of dry saffron's volatile fraction. It's hereby interesting to note that the related safraleine has been used by perfumers to render the hint of a leather note in some fragrances, accounting for a note of mixed shoe polish/black cherry/air conditioning refrigerating fluid (as referenced in our Production of Leather Notes article in our Leather Series).
But the most intense chemical in saffron's odour profile is 2-hydroxy-4,4,6-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one, which although is less quantitatively represented, contributes more intensely than saffranol in saffron's aroma. Saffron's rich golden-yellow hue on the other hand is due to the carotenoid α-crocin. You can see this in action if you take a couple of stigmata and infuse them in a cup of hot water: you will have a richly yellow-golden liquid in your hands with a very pleasing aroma.

The harvest of the purple-hued flowers of crocus sativus is a long and arduous process that involves picking the stigmata by hand. Seeing the purple carpets of blossoms with my own eyes I couldn't help myself from sighing from the sheer beauty of it: The flowers range from incandescent to dusky as the sun changes angles on the horizon and the wind blows among the petals. Old women with 'babushka'-style foulards to protect themselves from the rays pick them slowly one by one, filling basket after basket. Dried, the stigmata are gently heated and along with enzymatic action, picrocrocin yields D-glucose and the above mentioned safranal. The aromatic potential is just one glimpse away.

The history of saffron is no doubt fascinating and to this day saffron remains an expensive commodity, cultivated from the Western Mediterranean (Spain) to India (Kashmir). More than 80% of the global production (approximately reduced from 300 to 140 tons a year although according to same sources exportation is on the rise) is accountable to Spain (La Mancha region) and Iran. Saffron is not antithetical to cooler climates nevertheless. As we had referenced in the previous installment of the Saffron Series, the English town of Saffron Walden in Essex got its very name from local production in the 16th century ~yet the former saffron cultivation sites were eventually abandoned and the only remaining saffron producer north of the Mediterranean today is the 1200m-high Mund, a small Swiss village in the Wallis canton, which produces a few kilograms per year.
Outside Europe, Iran is most productive, especially lately, finally overcoming the Spanish yield. Smaller amounts are harvested in Turkey and India with Kashmiri saffron possessing a very high reputation, yet hardly available outside India.
In Greece, saffron is a product of Protected Designation Of Origin and of Protected Geographical Indication. The Greek Red Saffron is classified as the highest quality saffron worldwide, as it lacks the bitter edge of the Iranian variety. The Co-Operative of the Kozani region in Northern Greece is selling their own organic version, hand-picked in whole stigmata, while the well-known Greek brand Korres (who joined the above co-operative with a 42.8% share) is also issuing their own packaging of organic saffron stigmata for the Greek and European market. Indeed the increasing scope of saffron as exploited by Korres can be seen in their newest Eau de Toilette for men, tagged Saffrom Amber/Agarwood/Cardamom. The illustruous heritage of saffron has reverted to its place of origin through the medium of today's technology!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Saffron Series


Pic of crocus sativus via irana.ir, pic of crocus harvesting via Kozani Co-operative.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Golden Sunshine of Saffron 1: The History

Saffron, ζαφορά, زَعْفَرَان ...However you decide to call it, the yellowish-red stigmata of saffron spice have mesmerised people and their imagination for millenia rendering it perhaps the costliest spice by weight in the world, its worth comparable to the gold-like hue it imparts to anything it touches. Prized for its contribution of both colour and flavour in food and drink (especially wine) as well as in the preparation of various unguents and cosmetics its history is lost back in civilizations lost under the ashes and the sand of long ago. The resourceful Cleopatra of Egypt used saffron in her warm bath for its colouring and cosmetic traits, but also before encounters with men, believing that saffron would give lovemaking more pleasure. Less venereally-predisposed people scattered saffron threads across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. But what is this mysterious saffron spice and how did it became the stuff of legend, war and the coveted item of every connoiseur on the planet?

Saffron is nothing less than the three stigmata (Greek plural for stigma) of each saffron crocus blossom (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus of the Iridaceae family. The word originates from the 12th-century Old French term safran, which itself derives from the Latin safranum (The modern Italian zafferano and the Spanish azafrán comprise natural linguistic evolution). The Arabs called it aṣfar (أَصْفَر‎), which means "yellow," via the Persian paronymous zaʻfarān (زَعْفَرَان‎)and it was thus transported to the Greek as zafora/ζαφορά. The wild precursor of domesticated crocus was Crocus cartwrightianus, native in Crete, Greece, and it seems that human cultivators bred wild specimens selecting them for their long stigmata. The result was that a sterile mutant form, the afore mentioned Crocus sativus, emerged in late Bronze Age. The beauty of the Minoan frescoes in the Cretan palaces and the mansions at the nearby colony island of Santorini is a glimpse into a happy civilization that luxuriated in peace and harmony with nature. The "Saffron Gatherers" fresco appearing on the walls of Xeste 3 building (1600–1500 BC) at the Akrotiri site, Santorini, depicts women one with a shaved and dyed head, another with thick black curls in colourful robes that leave their whitechests free from constraint gathering saffron blossoms and stigmata for aromatizing and therapeutical purposes.
In the Minoan palace of Knossos, the famous Crocosyllektis/Κροκοσυλλέκτης (=saffron-gatherer) fresco of a blue monkey (erroneously re-assembled as a man by Sir Athur Evans, but later re-instated in its true form) reminds us how much vivid the cultivation was in people's consciousness. Another fresco on Santorini has a Goddess supervising the harvesting of saffron, her unerring eye intent on the gatherers, while a woman close by is trating her ailing foot with saffron. The volcanic eruption of Thera/Santorini buried the frescoes into ash for the safe-keeping of centuries to come, leaving legends recounting tales of brazen sailors embarking on perilous voyages to Soli in Cicilia in the hunt for saffron to use for ointments and perfumes. In one of the most tragic tales, reprised by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, the handsome youth Crocus sets out in pursuit of the nymph Smilax in the woods near Athens. But despite her initial interest, Smilax soon bores of him and transforms Crocus into a saffron crocus flower, the radiant stigmata the only manifestation of his virile and passionate desire for Smilax. It is therefore no coincidence that saffron was widely associated with professional courtesans, known in Greek as heterae/ἑταῖραι who used saffron for igniting passions. Even primitive mascara was coloured and aromatized with saffron to render eyelashes more alluring. The intense hay-like scent of saffron with its slightly metallic edge also made it a perfect deodoriser, prompting townsfolk in the island of Rhodes to wear pouches of the spice on their person in order to mask the presence of malodorous fellow citizens during outings to the theatre.

Saffron-based pigments were found in prehistoric paint used in 50,000 year-old cave art found in today's Iraq, leading us to believe that crocus was transported to other regions very far back. And although the Sumerians did not cultivate it but imported it from the West they did use saffron as an ingredient in their remedies and magical potions. The first written documentation in the Middle East happens in a 7th century BC Assyrian botanical reference compiled under Ashurbanipal while it famously makes its appearence in King Solomon's Song of Songs. Dye works operating in Sidon and Tyre used saffron baths to give a less intense purple (ie.regal) hue to royal pretenders and commoners, by bathing the garments in one infusion of πορφύρα (a sea urchin giving an intense red-purple dye) and two dips of saffron instead of the original three of the former for royals. Ancient Persians used it as both a drug and an aphrodisiac and when the Greek king Alexander the Great campaigned in Asia, he used Persian saffron in his infusions, rice, and baths, thus having his troops mimicking him (saffron was considered an excellent cure for battle wounds) and bringing saffron-bathing back to Greece after centuries.

Phoenicians, the dynamic uber-merchants of antiquity took it upon themselves to spread saffron to the edges of the Mediterranean: Perfumers in Rosetta and medicine-men in Gaza bought their product and thus Romans later on embraced saffron as a panacea: Stirred it into their wines, strewing it in halls and streets as potpourri, and makeing scented offering to their gods. Emperor Nero entered Rome stepping on saffron stigmata and petals along the streets (one would shudder to think of the sheer waste of energy and money in this), doctors used it in the famous Mithridatum (an anti-poison remedy created by legendary king Mithridates VI of Pontus, who thus became immune to poisons), while the wealthy classes daily bathed in saffron-infused water. Although according to Willard (2001) Roman colonists transported saffron to southern Gaul whent they settled there, resulting in extensive cultivation until 271AD whereupon Italy was invaded by barbarian hordes en masse, other researchers such as Goyns (1999) claim saffron returned to France either with 8th-century Moors or with the Avignon Papacy in the 14th century. Of course the 14th century was literally plagued by greater concerns: The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that cost Europe one third of its population, raised the demand for saffron-based medicine. Importation was done via Venetian and Genoan ships from southern and Mediterranean lands such as Rhodes, Greece. When one shipment of the precious essence was stolen a fourteen-week long "Saffron War" erupted! From then on saffron cultivation spread throughout Europe, arriving in Norfolk and Suffolk, Engalnd. Even a whole town was named after saffron: Saffron Walden in Essex, the prime trading epicentre for saffron. Yet the influx of more exotic spices such as chocolate, coffee, tea, and vanilla from newly contacted colonies caused European cultivation and usage of saffron to slowly decline. But histry is full of irony and as tobacco, chocolate and potatoes were imported from the Americas, saffron was brought to them when immigrant members of the Schwenkfelder Church left Europe with a trunk containing saffron corms resulting in increasing cultivations in the state of Pensylvannia, surviving even to our days.

Less concrete is the history of the expansion of saffron in the Far East, as contradicting accounts of Kasmir and China sources claim Persian transplantation of saffron via the invasion and colonization of Kashmir (It's interesting to note however that the traditional saffron-hued robes of Buddhist monks in India after Siddharta Gautama's demise are not actually dyed with saffron, but with less expensive turmeric, another spice). Eevn to this day, the 17.8 m monolith of Gomateshwara, dating to 978–993 AD, is anointed with saffron every 12 years by thousands of devotees as part of the Mahamastakabhisheka festival.
Other sources attribute saffron's introduction to China to Mongol invaders by way of Persia. On the other hand, saffron is mentioned in ancient Chinese medical texts, such as the Shennong Bencaojing pharmacopoeia, a tome dating from 200–300 BC. Traditionally attributed to the legendary Yan ("Fire") Emperor Shennong, it documents hundreds of phytochemical-based medical preparations. It's contradictory to what the Chinese themselves however say, when they give saffron a Kashmiri provenance in the 3rd century AD.

Whatever the edge between truth and legend is, the sunshine spice of saffron is a fascinating exploration into the very core of history's fiber.

Realted reading on Perfume Shrine: the Saffron Series

Fresco "Saffron Gatherers" from Akrotiti, Santorini and "Saffron-gatherer" from Knossos, Crete, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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