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.

Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein: fragrance review

We had announced the news of the upcoming Calvin Klein fragrance back in May and with it a few musings on how these things work as well as commentary by its new face, sexy actress Eva Mendes; who (to her credit) had contributed a few words on body perception and beauty.
Now the fragrance rolled out to actually test it and the proof is in the pudding, so here we are doing a review of it, if only because we had always been great fans of the original Obsession, especially the one geared towards men.

"Secret Obsession explores the secrets that lie between love and madness. It's about being taunted with illicit thoughts and compelled with seeking pleasure.
The fragrance is an intoxicating floral oriental weaving together hidden fruits, exotic flowers and a sultry wood signature for a provocative and addictive sexiness.
Sultry. Addictive. Exotic."

The fragrance is presented as a floriental, created by Givaudan perfumer Calice Becker and art-directed by Ann Gottlieb who is responsible for many Calvin Klein successful launches. To me however it registers as fruity-spicy-woody, much like the latest Lancome feminine fragrance Magnifique, with which it shares many facets. Poised between Sensuous and Magnifique, along with its congenial sisters, it heralds the new vogue in feminine fragrances: namely, woody, duskier notes.

The initial impression of spraying Secret Obsession is rum-like boozy with an alcoholic hairspray blast petering out quickly, plummy and ripe but not overtly sweet (a good thing!), especially compared with the overall sweeter Magnifique.
In Secret Obsession there is a distinct phase in which the resinous, intense aroma of mace provides a welcome surprise as the fragrance opens up on the warmth of skin. In the first century A.D., the Roman writer Pliny described a tree, Myristica fragrancs bearing a nut having two separate flavors. Nutmeg is one flavour coming from the kernel of the fruit and mace is the other. Mace comes from the outer, "lacy" reddish covering of the Myristica tree fruit, but it has a more delicate smell in comparison with nutmeg.
On the contrary, floral notes do not register much, which is surprising given the intense character of the flowers listed (orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose). If I were hard-pressed to put my finger on one, I would offer jasmine or the similar, denser note of ylang ylang, but in no way is this especially pronounced in the scheme of things, nor classical in treatment. Its creamy manipulation takes its cue from Songes by Goutal, but whereas the intense ylang ylang and natural jasmine of the latter contributed to a narcotic, intensely heady feel of being on an exotic island's orchard, in Secret Obsession we are met with a postard from the tropics that bears the handwriting of a past love. Perhaps like the gold-flecks of Fragile by Gaultier are meant to represent the confetti remnants of tuberose festivities, we are left with a trail of something past, instead of a presence of the here and now.

The overall effect is tanned skin, cocoa-buttyric, pleasantly cedary-woody, much of it accountable to Cashmeran* and is less loud than the oriental monochromatic amber of the original Obsession by Calvin Klein or the fruity megaphones of Euphoria, but perceptible.
Secret Obsession has a linear development that doesn't change much as you wear it: the initial scent becomes warmer and duskier, but doesn't change significantly over time. I wouldn't necessarily deem it too sexy or provocative and would prefer to see it in a body oil concentration where its shady character would shine.

The advertising takes a page off the usual Calvin Klein style: provocation, even if leading to negative publicity, is ultimately good publicity. Censors in the US have banned the commercial and the brand has decided to fight that decision.
The furore caused by the commercial didn't raise my eyebrows: just a beautiful woman, actress Eva Mendes, wriggling in bed naked, supposedly only clad by a few drops of Secret Obsession; it's rather well-made, if you ask me.
"It really taps into the secrecy of a private moment - where it's clear that Eva is having illicit thoughts," Lori Singer, vice president of global marketing for the brand at Coty Prestige, tells WWD. "It's somewhat up to interpretation - because of how it's shot, and what you see and hear, and what you can't see and hear. You hear her voice, talking about having a sexy secret."
Judging by the advertising concept, Marilyn Monroe is still a very influential icon, if the notion that a woman wears nothing but perfume in bed can be traced back to her own statement of opting for Chanel No.5. However those were conservative times and such an oral, and nota bene non visual, statement had the tantalising advantage of making people imagine Marilyn preparing for a lover who would get to profit from her alluring presence laced with a few seductive drops of a fine fragrance. This kind of mythos cemented the reputation of No.5 as not only elegant and prestigious, but also as a weapon of attraction. Those times, however, are over for better or worse.

The main difference I perceive with the current advertising for Secret Obsession is that Eva is implied to be alone in bed: there is no hinted lover about to emerge behind the lattice, thus making the images take a rather auto-erotic turn which might have caught censors off-guard.
Personally I fail to see how a soupcon of nipple is provocative or contributes to moral destruction, especially when bombs are let free to explode on prime-time TV news and shows. Such sort of selective censorship reeks of hypocricy to me. But perhaps my European eyes have become jaded, living at a place when clothes drop unhesitatingly at the drop of a pin on national TV without the programme earning the label of X-rated, while violent scenes and films often equal delegation to the after-hours zone.

In any case, the Fabien Baron directed commercial is available for your perusal, so you can judge for yourselves.



Eva Mendes- Secret Obsession Banned Commercial



Official Notes:
Top: exotic plum, mace, rose Damascena
Heart: French orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, tuberose, plum, woods
Base: cashmere woods*, burnt amber, Australian sandalwood


In the interests of disclosure, I received a free sample of the new Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein. No, not the bracelets they were advertising to bloggers! An actual decant (ie.hand-poured juice from a bigger bottle into a smaller one). Yes, you heard this right! Not a commercial carded sample, not a full bottle either (probably because I specify to anyone who asks that I need financial details so I can actually pay; that pretty much makes several of them vanish into thin air! The Calvin Klein people to their credit didn't.)
How to get hold of your own? Click here or here (and scroll)for your free sample of Secret Obsession.

Secret Obsession has just launched in Europe and is out on September 15 in the US according to the official info, available from major department stores in a brown glass bottle like a turtle's face, which tapers towards the top featuring an amber cap, sort of 70s retro.
Eau de Parfum 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz. Satin Body Lotion and Satin Shower Gel in a 200ml/6.7oz tube each.
We're taunted to check out everything on it by searching "Secret Obsession Calvin Klein" on Facebook under the Pages tab and to visit the official Secret Obsession site.


*Cashmere woods or Cashmeran is a IFF patented, complex aromachemical that provides a beautiful, velours note with diffuse nuances of earthy-wood and spicy notes (pine, patchouli), fruits and flowers (heliotrope, red fruits, apples and jasmine) and is softly musky-vanillic. It's featured in Ysatis, Amarige, Michael, Lacroix Rouge, Perles de Lalique and many more.

Clip via celebriNet2/Dailymotion.com. Pic of nutmeg courtesy of mydiversekitchen.blog. Bottle pic via Osmoz

Travel Memoirs: Istanbul, part2

Much of the olfactory enjoyment when in Istanbul comes from the culinary exploration of dishes that delight all the senses and make one abandon all expectations of following a diet regime in a flash. It is no accident that the Turkish refer to Culinary Arts when talking about food. The abundance and diversity owing to the rich flora and fauna of the area provide rich culinary escapades for an inquisitive gourmet palate. Babette's Feast with an oriental twist!
And so often food and drink is accompanied by oryantal dancing* to excite the senses even more: One feels like James Bond.



With a nomadic origin back to the first millenium in Central Asia, the Turkish repertoire has been influenced by the Arab, Persian, Greek /Byzantine, Seljuk and French traditions, as well as the Imperial Kitchen of the Ottomans, adding colourful spices and refined techniques. The little balls of delight that are içli kofte with their outer shell of bulgur and minced meat and their filling of pine nuts and spicy minced meat are inducement to a glimpse of heaven. They are chased away with tangy turnip juice. In Imam Bayildi bittersweet aubergines in onion and tomato sauce are sweetly melting into the tava (pan). The name literally means 'the Imam fainted', presumambly with pleasure. My favorite and one I recreate at home is Manti, home-made ravioli-like bites stuffed with minced meat with a yoghurt sauce on top.

Cumin and turmeric are especially prized and used in meat preparations which are roasted (kebap), stewed (yahni) and grilled (külbastı). Their acrid, sweaty flavour enhances the oiliness of onion-marinated meat, accompanying donerli rice pilafs in earthen pots topped with bright sauces to be enjoyed with your commensall. The background of those spices recalls the Arabic tradition of the souk echoed in the Serge Lutens perfumes and indeed this is the place to comprehend their intricasy best. Everything mingles nicely in this melting pot of civilizations: their Iskender Kebab is named after the Persian name for Alexander the Great!

When the weather is warm and the bitter orange trees in Balat are in bloom one can catch whiffs of their honeyed goodness intemingled with the sweet smells of the bakeries meters away. To the East, along the Golden Horn, brings you to Eminonu and the Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar, both old trading districts dating to Byzantium and the Spice Road. The pungent, rich smell leads you by the nose across the stalls of the sellers. Each one in its own heap of bright vermillon, deep mustard and brownish golden, they invite you to lean and take a deep breath with the desire to immerse your hands into the expensive, little red stigmata, yellow-green leaves of lemongrass and brown seeds. I find myself trying to mentally decipher the composition of Safran Troublant, a fragrance by L’artisan Parfumeur composed by Olivia Giacobetti. The natural combo of bitterness and sweetness like that in iodoform, as well as the smooth, pleasant feel of saffron(Crocus cartwrightianus) escape from the bottle like djenies from a middle-eastern tale with merchants and thieves. The same feel accompagnies me in Agent Provocateur where the rose is playing cello to saffron’s basso.
All these references are here dissected with the precision of a surgeon: saffron here, rose petals there, curcuma and turmeric like mustard-coloured dust, and fenugreek for pastırma, a delicasy that is destined for the brave and adventurous.

Pastırma is made from wind-dried cured meat, usually veal. Legend has it that agressive horsemen preserved meat by placing slabs of it in the pockets on the sides of their saddles, where it dried by the pressure of their thighs on the horse (this is also the origin of Steak Tartare). Then dried meat is covered in a paste called çemen comprising crushed cumin, fenugreek, garlic, and hot paprika as well as salt. Pastırma is intensely rich with the aroma of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), an herb primarily used as a galactogue for millenia, as well as for cattle food. An opaque, rather bitter smell with a nutty undertone, it traverses the urinary track to scent a person’s urine as well as their sweat and intimate juices. Its seeds’ odour is comparable to thick maple suryp. Fenugreek is featured in many fragrances which have rippled the waters of niche perfumery with pre-eminent examples Sables by Annick Goutal and Eau Noire by Christian Dior (composed by nose Francis Kurkdjian). Everytime I smell them I am reminded of the intense flavour that this spice gives them.

To take the heat off those spicy dishes the Turks have devised the wonderfully refreshing drink Ayran or Airan, a mix of yogurt, water and salt, not too different from traditional Lassi from India. It manages to clean the palate and restore the stomach to its best function.
But the most fascinating of them all is the winter drink Boza, a fermented drink made from bulgur. It tastes tart and is thick as glue. Traditionally served with a dash of cinnamon on top and double roasted chickpeas (called leblebi in Turkish) on the side, it was confided to us by our waiter that it grows the breasts to become bigger! I can't vouch for its effects but it sure makes an impression upon hearing the rumour, doesn’t it?


To be continued with bittersweet romance, hammams and desserts...

Pics through Fotosearch and cafefernando.com. Clip from the film From Russia with Love, courtesy of JamesBondwiki.com

*For you ladies who consider this kind of dancing demeening, please click to see this AMAZING clip!