Melomakarona and Kourambiedes: the aromata of Greek Christmas holidays

The word άρωμα (aroma) means several things in Greek: It denotes personal fragrance as a medium of enhancing one's aura, it evokes the content of bottles encapsuling precious essences to be used for aromatizing of various aims, but also it means the lingering smell in the air that might be coming off a fragrant kitchen, busy in preparation for a traditional feast; a feast that is more of a gregarious social and sensuous event than merely a casual gathering. Food and the hearth have always been at the core of Greek culture (the hearth, Εστία, had been an ancient Greek goddess, no less) and savouring the aromata (plural for aroma) in every step of the process is half the fun!
The celebration of the end of the year, including Christmas and the New Year's Eve, is forever in my mind steeped in the sweet smells emanating through the door of an oven while baking the traditional and idiosyncratic cookies of the season: μελομακάρονα/melomakarona and κουραμπιέδες/kourambiedes. Although there are other delicacies around and everyone has to have something sweet on hand for the kid-carolers who come to the house on the morning of each celebration's Eve (caramelised nuts and raisins, marrons glacés and marrons déguisés in chocolate, candied orange rind, and δίπλες/"deeples" or "diples", that is Greek Honey Curls: pieces of fried and suryped dough sprinkled with chopped nuts, supposedly looking like Christ's swaddling clothes) it's those two mentioned above that are most popular and characteristic, found in every home from the most humble to the most extravagant.

So here are the recipes I use, handed down from my mother and grandmothers (excellent cooks all of them) for you to recreate the homely and sensuous atmosphere of this little corner of the world. They're easy to make and very flavourful!

Melomakarona (pronounced Meh-lo-ma-KA-row-na) Recipe
Ingredients for the dough
1 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white sugar
2 juiced oranges
1/2 juiced lemon
1 egg yolk
3 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts

Ingredients for the syrup
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1/2 juiced lemon

1.Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line 2 flat baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat oil, sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. You can do this by hand (I do) or use an electric mixer on high speed until thick and creamy.
3.Add egg yolk and beat again, but not too much this time (you want to trap in air so that it raises when baking).
4.Sift flour and add half the cinnamon and the clove to the oil mixture. Fold gently to combine (it should have a doughy texture).
5.Using your flour-dusted hands (so dough doesn't stick)hands, roll the mixture into oval shapes without pressing them too much. Dough should make about 32 pieces. Place on prepared trays without touching one another (as they will expand while baking).
6.Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch and then allow to cool on trays.
7.To make the syrup combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium to high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar at first and bring to the boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 4 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly: you want it to form "drops" when you pour it from a spoon.
8.Using a slotted spoon, dip the cool cookies, 1 at a time, into the hot syrup for about 30 seconds (no more or they become very sweet and sticky!), turning over until well coated. Return to trays. The cool cookie, hot suryp is the secret that makes them absorb the suryp best and thus remain delectably moist and soft.
9.Combine chopped walnuts and remaining ground cinnamon. Sprinkle over cookies: the suryp should make them mostly "stick" on top. Allow to cool completely and they're ready to serve.

Melomakarona are also called Φοινίκια (phoenekia), especially when they're shaped like fingers, in some regions of Greece (mainly where Greek refugees from the -now Turkish- Smyna and Constantinople came to). They keep for a long time (up to a month, although you're sure to consume them long before that!) outside of the fridge thanks to the high sugar ratio; just keep them in an air-tight biscuit box so they don't become dry due to air exposure.
Their clove-y smell is captured in a wonderfully indulgent little solid scent by Pacifica: Madagascar Spice.

Kourambiedes (pronounced koo-rah-bee-YEH-thess) Recipe


Ingredients
4 cups of sheep's butter (cow's can be substituted, but the traditional method calls for sheep)
2 cups of confectioner's sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 tablespoons of brandy liquor or ouzo (or orange juice, if you don't want to use alcohol)
1 cup of coarsely chopped roasted almonds
12 cups (1 1/2 kg or 3 1/3 lbs) of all-purpose flour
2 cups of confectioner's sugar (for dusting)
rose water or orange blossom water (about half a cup)

1.Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line 2 flat baking trays with baking paper.
2.Cream the butter (at room temperature) and sugar in a mixing bowl by hand, until white.
3.Dissolve the baking powder in the brandy/ouzo/orange juice and fold into the mixture, along with the egg yolks, vanilla, and almonds, one by one.
3.Gradually add flour without beating too much.
4.Knead the dough gently by hand until malleable. You don't want to let air escape, as it will contribute to making the cookies fluffy and soft.
5.Rolling the dough on flour-dusted hands (so it doesn't stick) roll the mixture into dome-shaped circles (thick like a pinkie finger). The dough should make about 50pieces. Place them on baking sheet without touching one another (as they will expand while baking).
6.Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until cookies barely turn to golden brown. Get them out of the oven and allow to cool completely.
7.Sift confectioner's sugar onto a large tray or cookie sheet. As soon as the cookies are done, sprinkle them with the rose water or orange blossom water and dust them with the sugar. When all the cookies have been coated once, repeat (without sprinkling them in any liquid this time)cool.
8.Serve them in layers on a serving platter that has been dusted with sugar.

These buttery Greek Shortbread Cookies were also given in weddings and christenings once upon a time, because they look pure white, a symbol of new beginnings. They melt in the mouth and are very soft and fragile, so handle them gently!
Kourabiedes will keep for a couple of months thanks to the sugar if stored in an air-tight container. Make sure there's a dusting of powdered sugar on the bottom of the container, then layer cookies as above, each layer with a covering of sugar. Wait one day after baking to cover with an airtight lid, though.

If you're left with too much uncooked dough, you can wrap it well in plastic wrap, put in the freezer and it will keep for up to two months. When ready to use, remove and let the dough sit a while till malleable. Beat with the mixer briefly to aerate the dough ands you're ready to follow steps 5-8.

Happy Holidays!

Pic of Melomakarona by Steve Brown via taste.com.au, pic of Kourambiedes via dianasdesserts.com

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.

New fragrances from Korres: 3 new Eaux de Toilette

Korres, the famous Greek brand of skincare and cosmetics, had tentatively explored the world of fragrance with their body waters, a line of light eaux for after showering refreshment accompanying their bath-products line, in such scents as the Amaretto-echoing Bitter Almond, the piquantly astrigent Basil Lemon and the austerely sonorous Cedar (the latter highly recommended, by the way!).
Now they're issuing a trio of more traditional Eaux de Toilette, destined to be proper fragrances rather than soli-nuanced scented waters and with greater tenacity ~a complaint that some people had with some of the previous Body Waters. The new line of fragrances is comprised by:

RoseWood/Blackcurrant/Cyclamen for women,
Saffron Amber/Agarwood/Cardamom for men and
Pepper Jasmine/Gaiac Wood/Passion Fruit for both sexes, to be shared.

I like to think that if I like the men's one (sounds like it comprises at least two of my favourite notes!), I could borrow it too! *wink, wink*

Korres is a Greek company with roots in the first homeopathic pharmacy of Athens. Naturally derived, top quality active ingredients, clinically tested for effectiveness are used, "aiming in the creation of natural, beneficial and safe products for skin, hair and body which however are also a sensory pleasure to use".
Following the policies of the company on matters of eco-consciousness and minimizing allergy risks, the new trio of Eaux de Toilette are phthalate-free and PCM-Compound Free.

The new Eaux de Toilette have just launched in Greece with plans to bring them out in the international market later on.

Pic of Korres family via Beautyworks.

Manoumalia: new fragrance by Les Nez (Parfums d'Auteurs)

A new fragrance by niche brand Les Nez (the Noses) is scheduled for January, called Manoumalia. Les Nez is a small Suisse brand which has released such esoterically-named perfumes as Let me Play the Lion, L'Antimatiere and The Unicorn Spell, masterminded by Isabelle Doyen. Comparatively, the cryptic Manoumalia name is less out there or fairy-tale like, although its concept reads like a high-seas adventure from the times when captain Cook was crossing the South Seas in search of exotic, unknown territories. Such were the lengths to which Sandrine Videault, the perfumer of the latest fragrance, went in November 2007 to appreciate the essences that would comprise what would essentially be a theme on the olfactory culture of Wallis. Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands is a Polynesian French island territory (but not belonging to, or even contiguous with, French Polynesia) in the South Pacific between Fiji and Samoa. (Since 2003 Wallis and Futuna has been a French overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer/COM).

One of the last students of Edmond Roudnitska, Sandrine Videault became interested in perfumery ever since she read Que Sais-je: Le Parfum, the now out-of-print edition penned by Roudnitska. Best known for her historical fragrances (such as her Kyphi recreation for the Cairo museum in 2002) and olfactive shows. Previous fragrance composed by her include Ambre Indien by Esteban and La Rose de Carole Bouquet for Truffault, Paris. Her olfactive illustrations include « L’Ecume des Sens », after a text from Boris Vian (Cité de la Villette, Paris), « Afrikabrak dans tous les Sens », after the sculptures of Hervé Di Rosa (Musée en Herbe, Paris) while she orchestrated the olfactive shows « Le Cantique des Sens », Palais des Congrès, Paris « La Beauté de l’Egypte ancienne » (for SEPHORA Champs-Elysées, Paris) and « Les Bulles Métalliques », Foire Internationale des Arts Contemporains (F.I.A.C), Paris.[1]

She elaborated to us how the importance of olfaction to the Polynesians, quite strong socially as well as spiritually (the same way dance and song are as well) has been an inspiration since she was a young girl. The Wallisians, making their own fragrance the ancient way, thus effortlessly entered the universe of cultures focused around smells in Sandrine's mind (as she comes from the isles of the South Pacific she was always in close proximity), much like the Egyptians, the Tunisians and the residents of Morocco. The Taihitians already have the monoi as their emblem, so it was only a matter of time till the Wallisians got their own share of recognition! The idea was therefore there, but Sandrine needed the incentive, the fuse that would set fire to the passion of composing a fragrance inspired by Wallis: the place where without a sensory, and specifically olfactory, training a man -and even more, a woman!- is invisible.
Following a documentary of RFO televized in New Caledonia, Malia, a native woman, offered to show Sandrine her savoir-faire of perfumes and became the open door, the gift-bearer that crystalised this idea and introduced Sandrine to their secret world. Sandrine's aim and ambition became to pay homage to the culture she came to know without betraying its richness. This could not be done in a mere reconstitution or even interpretation of Tuitui[2], the par excellence Wallesian essence ~there needed to exist a dialogue of different elements: of sandalwood, used to colour the hair, of spices (like curcuma) used to colour the body, of scent via the medium of jewels (bracelets or necklaces), of vetiver, of flowers like Fagrea[3] (which to Wallisians is comparable to what tiare is to Tahitians), ylang ylang and indeed tiare. Thus a modern, occidentally-oriented perfume emerged, which was talking about a culture hailing from the South Seas: a woody floral amber, Manoumalia.

The announced notes of Manoumalia are: Fagrea, vetiver, tiare, sandal, ylang ylang, amber accord.
If you sign up for the newletter on the Les Nez website, you can get a free sample of the new Manoumalia fragrance. I am already expecting it and will report back with a full-on review in due time.

[1] List of olfactive installations via 1000fragrances.
[2]Tuitui is a plant of the family Euphorbiaceae, commonly known as Candlenut/Varnish Tree (Lichtnussbaum in German) with white flowers in a shape like a cross between orange blossom and jasmine which is used mainly for the nuts and the oil distilled from them.
[3]Fagraea is a plant endimic to the South Seas islands, belonging to the family Loganiaceae, one species of which is the famous fagraea berteroana (pua kenikeni) abundant in Maui.

Pics copyrighted by Les Nez, reproduced by permission

Un Matin d'Orage (Stormy Morning): New Fragrance from Annick Goutal

A new fragrance by French chic brand Annick Goutal (famous for their bestseller Eau d'Hadrien) is scheduled for release this coming February: Un Matin d’Orage, created by longtime Goutal perfumer Isabelle Doyen. "Un Matin d’Orage is meant to channel the ambiance of a Japanese garden after a storm, with notes of gardenia, Sicilian lemon, perilla leaves, ginger, magnolia, jasmine sambac and Indonesian champaca."

This conceptually reminds me of both Après l'Ondée by Guerlain (the after-the-shower garden part) and Un Jardin Après la Mousson by Hermès, (the Monsoon storm evocation ) although from the listed notes one would deduce that the limpid bog water and transparent gloom might not be there. Although Annick Goutal already has a fragrance tagged Gardenia Passion in their line, the scent actually emits the ruberry feel of a proper tuberose rather than gardenia, so it's not like they're re-hashing ideas. The inclusion of Eastern champaca is an intriguing touch. Perilla leaves is an unusual note, quite Japonesque in feel: an annual herb (it belongs to the mint family), its most common species is Perilla frutescens var.japonica or more commonly known as shiso, mainly grown in India and East Asia. The essential oil, which is extracted from the leaves of the plant by steam distillation, consists of a variety of chemical compounds, varying depending on species. The most abundant however (comprising about 50–60% of the oil) is perillaldehyde ~most responsible for the aroma and taste of perilla. (please read about aldehydes here). A fragrance focusing on perilla/shiso is Shiso by Comme des Garcons.

The Annick Goutal brand has been owned by the Starwood Capital Group since 2005, who at the time were not certain what to do with the brand. But as soon as they realized that there is potential aplenty, since Goutal's profits have grown by 14% per year on a year by year basis, Starwood is planning on almost quadrupling the number of stand alone boutiques in the next five years. Russell Sternlicht, managing director, plans to upgrade and in some cases change the locations of its stores, which can be as small as 129 square feet. Some spaces will be remodeled to resemble an 860-square-foot door already opened on Avenue Victor Hugo in Paris. New stand-alone boutiques are scheduled for Italy, Spain, the U.S. and Dubai.
The Starwood Capital Group have been apparently already working hard to bring out that potential accounting for the latest group of fragrances "Les Orientalistes" (Encens Flamboyant, Myrrhe Ardente, Ambre Fetiche, Musc Nomade) as well as the lingerie line which was introduced in the spring. Since the plan is further developping Goutal into a lifestyle brand, an Annick Goutal cosmetics line is in the works as a companion to the already existing excellent skin-care line. Potpourri, household linens and jewelry by Virginie Monroe are also planned.

We will return with a full on review as soon as sufficient quantity ends on our lap!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the new Serge Lutens, Nuit de Cellophane (news), Nuit de Cellophane Review, Annick Goutal news and reviews.

News via wwd and N.Branch. Boutique pic via beauty-cult blog.