Les Sapins

"...À briller doucement changés En étoiles et enneigés Aux Noëls bienheureuses Fêtes des sapins ensongés Aux longues branches langoureuses Les sapins beaux musiciens Chantent des noëls anciens Au vent des soirs d'automne Ou bien graves magiciens Incantent le ciel quand il tonne..." Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 - 1918) - Alcools

The Deeper Message of Christmas

I'm gazing at the plate with the melomakarona cookies, a traditional dessert to be found in every local house, and I never fail to think just how positively Byzantine they look. Their gritty but oily texture, dough folded with olive oil and wheat flour; their walnuts and honey succulence, a memory reflecting the offering of peasants to the ancient pagan gods of fertility; their deeper olive-sandy shade the same as the liturgical beeswax candles that burn in the Orthodox churches, a surefire reference of the Eastern Mediterranean, similar still to the lined faces of the old closing their eyes in piety when the censer comes out and ringlets of fragrant smoke rise up in the air. Things become symbols.

Religious I am not. But there's something about piety and contemplative ritual which deeply appeals to a (universal, I feel) need for the mystic and the offer of one's spirit to something higher. This can manifest itself in many ways, some entailing sensual ways that include our small hobby, others which explore the higher arts and others still which mean sharing yourself with the universe, belonging. Christmas, for those who partake of the tradition at least in spirit, if not in letter, means realizing that we're all brothers and sisters, that filling up one's soul with goodness and with peace allows for forgiving and for sharing and that this is the only way to conquer death.

I'm leaving you with a Byzantine-style chant performed by the monks of the Simonopetra Monastery in Mount Athos, Greece, called "Agni Parthene" (Oh Pure Virgin, Ωδή β', Ήχος πλάγιος α') composed by St.Nectarios of Aegina in the 19th century during his tenure at the Rizareios Theological School in Athens.

My best wishes to all of you for love, peace and sharing of the self during this festive season*.

*And for those who wonder (and wish me a good Orthodox Christmas later on), Greek Christmas is the same day as Western Christmas, even though most Greeks are Orthodox Christian.

The winner of the draw…

…for the vintage Tabu is Eirini85. Congratulations and please email me using Contact with your shipping data so I can have this out in the mail for you soon.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one!

Tabu by Dana: fragrance review & free vintage perfume giveaway

Tabu by Dana has always had a reputation wickeder than its actual self ("for women who wear their knickers on their heads" [1]), like a girl at high school that everyone thought was promiscuous, while in fact she had being going steady with the older mysterious guy from college. Let's just describe it in style or literary terms: it's not the sort of perfume you'd envision on Audrey Hepburn, but rather on Constance Chatterley. Someone who, although not promiscuous, is not only full aware but exhibiting of the pressing need of their sexual urges.

It all goes back to Javier Sera, the founder of the Spanish house of Dana, who had apparently asked for "un parfum de puta" (a whore's brew) from his perfumer Jean Carles. This was surrealist times back in 1932, so the modern shock should be minimized. The publication of Totem and Taboo [2] had already come 2 decades ago, therefore the name had gained a widespread familiarity and at the same time that frisson of the forbidden it truly represents. Tabu was to be the ultimate "fragrance taboo" now that the divides of society thanks to the aftermath of WWI had crumbled in several cases. Dana's Tabu would reprise for good the dubious essences that the demi-monde alone enjoyed during La Belle Epoque, rendering it both a unity unto itself and segregating it from polite society. Dana thus exploited the awakened sensuality which lift the lid in the two decades between the two World Wars and the wanderlust therein not dormant anymore. Its exceedingly successful course in the market for several decades indicates that this was not just relevant to those times. We can see its impact on both En Avion (Caron, same year, same general concept but played on the leather chypre scale) and the more powdery oriental Bal a Versailles (Desprez, 1962), not to mention milestones such as  Youth Dew, YSL Opium and Coco by Chanel.

Carles, who had not yet lost his sense of smell and worked at Roure, composed a classic, a formula that took the oriental "mellis accord" and gave it wings pulling into two different but equally potent directions: one was the spicy floral & patchouli chord (composed via eugenol, spices and patchouli) and the other the brontide notes of civet, labdanum and musk. The full formula contains also benzyl salicylate and hydroxycintronellal for added radiance and oomph and indeed putting a few drops of even the lighter concentrations of Tabu on the skin amount to having a full on orchestra accompanying your solitary whistling tune. The lighter, citric or floral notes (bergamot, orange blossom, neroli and a heart of rose and ylang) only act as see through veils under which we can gaze at Salome's voluptuous body. A kind of sophisticated apodyopsis fit for a psychoanalyst's couch: one can only imagine the naked body underneath the clothes that waft Tabu. True to its advertising "when Tabu becomes a part of you, you become apart of all others" and despite its carnal reputation it wears as a very fetching, sultry but suave fragrance that both women and men can enjoy.


The advertising history of Dana's Tabu perfume makes for a whole chapter by itself, full of passionate images of torrid affairs. I have touched upon the subject on the linked post, so if you're curious take a peak.

Tabu is still available at drugstores and online, though the modern formulations are thinned out and lacking a certain "kick" compared to 30 years ago. This is the reason I'm offering a vintage miniature to one lucky reader as a small Xmas gift. Post a comment below to enter. Draw is open internationally till Sunday midnight and winner will be announced sometime on Monday.

[1]Susan Irvine in the Perfume Guide, 2000. 
[2]Sigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo: Similarities between the lives of savages and neurotics, 1913.

Making your Own Rich Vanilla Extract & Savory Vanilla Bean Sauce (Vanilla Series)

There's something deeply satisfying about making your own condiments at home. The swirls of caramel, the folding of cocoa dust into coconut shreds, the steeping of hot, fragrant spices into boozy liquids wafting their own magic in the kitchen is irresistible for the sensualist in all of us. Therefore when I was researching, while composing my Vanilla Series (compiling a guide into the best vanilla fragrances), I came across some delicious recipes which can whet the driest of lips and put a creative spin to the hands of even the laziest cook.

These are easy to make (I have personally tweaked & tested the recipes to ensure it) and would provide for especially fetching and heart-warming homemade gifts to offer when invited over the holidays. All you'll need are a few pretty looking jars, some bottles and decorative ribbons.

via Pinterest

Homemade Vanilla Extract

The quality of the raw materials is what makes this shine, otherwise it doesn't really require any specific skills. You will need 20 good, real preferably organic black vanilla beans, a couple of liters of premium 80 proof vodka, clear bottles with a cap, and a funnel to decant liquid into, and a week (or a month if you can spare it!) of steeping time.

You start by putting the beans whole (non peeled) into the glass bottles (divide them according to how many bottles you will fill) and carefully decanting vodka till the beans are immersed whole into the alcohol. Cap them and let them sit in a bright spot. The clear liquid will start turning golden, then ambery as the days pass. The longer it sits, it stronger the flavor becomes (same principle as with homemade liqueurs).

When ready you can stick pretty labels on the bottles and put a ribbon around the neck and you're good to go! The boozy, rich vanilla extract can be added in a pleiad of recipes and beverages from freshly made cookie dough instead of commercial vanilla and in meat dishes as an interesting addition to the deglazing of the sauce to cappuccino coffee. Enjoy!

(inspired by Bethanyactually.com)

via Pinterest

Savory Vanilla Bean Sauce 

This is great to pour onto anything that would scream for a little caramel goodness, rich in the taste of authentic Madagascar vanilla, from apple pie or crumble, to ice-cream and speculoos butter cookies or shortbread. Or feel free to experiment, it's as addictive as Nutella.

You will need:

1.5 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup water
1.5 cup whipping cream (of at least 30% fat)
1 teaspoon white vanillin crystals
1 organic vanilla bean (sliced and seeded)
2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt, shredded with pestle and mortar

Put the cream in a big cup and add the vanillin, the seeded vanilla and the shredded sea salt. Stir well.
In a saucepan, heat the water and pour the sugar over medium heat. Let it cook until it gets golden, without stirring (or the spoon would stick at this point and get messy.) Gently move the pan around if you need to.
Add the cream mixture to the pan, stirring with an egg whisker continuously until the hot bubbles go down and it sets.
Let it cool a bit and pour into clear glass sterilized jars. Cap them, turn them upside down quickly (make sure the lid is secure!) and again upside down and decorate with a nice ribbon. They should keep for a week or so in the fridge.

If you want to further aromatize the sauce, you can add the zest of one orange to the water or you can mix the vanillin crystals with freshly powdered cinnamon. It adds a special something.

(inspired by bakedbree.com)

Bon appetit!!