Chocolate Still Captivates Me

I haven't been making chocolate truffles much lately, as I've been focused on getting my natural perfume business up and running. Well, 'focused' may be something of an understatement. Maybe obsessed, driven, consumed... are better adjectives.

Anyway, I recently got a request from a friend I haven't seen in a while. She organizes an annual Pagan conference, and wanted something special of a chocolate nature to include in the gift packages for the 30 speakers at the conference. So I created rectangular shaped chocolates decorated with symbols--chocolate truffle runes!

I made a pomegranate and dark chocolate ganache (my pomegranate truffles have always been well received by everyone who has tried them), poured the ganache into a sheet pan and let it cool and set. Then I flipped the hardened ganache sheet onto the counter and carefully cut it into rectangles. Then the ganache rectangles were enrobed in dark chocolate one by one, and finally, before the chocolate was completely set, each was decorated by hand with a rune symbol. Each speaker got a box of four random runes (that's 120 chocolates!), I can only hope the combinations are meaningful to the speakers.

Just for the sheer unadulterated heck of it, I made some chocolte dipped dried apricots, one of my favourite snacks, and my beau loves them too (he's not really one to indulge in sweets--I know, the irony!).



My kitchen is still redolent with the sweet, heady, dark aroma of chocolate. Luckily, I made a few extra for myself to enjoy. First, the smell of the chocolate itself. Then, biting through the crisp shell, your teeth reach the soft ganache core. Right about now the chocolate starts to warm up to your body temperature, releasing its flavour as it melts. Then the tang of the pomegranate cuts through, and you taste tart, red fruity goodness. It's a little like a raspberry truffle, only tarter, more complex, almost spicy, and just a bit mysterious. As the pomegranate ganache dissolves in your mouth, the dark chocolate re-surfaces and builds, until all you're left with is the taste of fine dark chocolate. mmmmm... Take a moment to imagine it. To help with your imaginings, here are a couple of shots of the finished pomegranate truffle runes. If you ask nicely, I may tell you my secret to making these truffles, or even give up the recipe. Or if you're very nice indeed, I might even make some for you *wink*

Leaf and Bean, Part II -- Old King Cole

After the rather ethereal tasting Osmanthus Tea from Part I, this time I'm in the mood to talk about something a little more mundane, namely a damn fine cup of plain old orange pekoe (you know--common black tea). In my opinion, the best to be found in a bag. Not organic, not loose leaf, nothing special really--just a good cup of full bodied, flavourful black tea. King Cole tea is my favourite bag tea. It's only available at certain grocery stores in Toronto, and I will commute to get it.

So what's so special about King Cole Tea? Other than the fact that it's from Nova Scotia (the most popular tea in Nova Scotia actually), the tea bags are made of gauze instead of the usual paper, and apparently that makes a big difference in the taste! That plus they use good quality tea to start with. In the cup it's full, rich classic orange pekoe tea, quite strong, but no trace of bitterness. It's just the thing when I'm in the mood for a simple cup of tea,

Leaf and Bean, Part I -- Osmanthus

Leaf and Bean is a new series of posts I will be working on periodically. Personally I really love the aromas in a good cup of coffee, or a fine cup of tea. I was going to talk about this all in one posting, but as I started writing I realized I have too much material for just one post about coffee and tea. Heck, whole books have been written about both subjects. As I discover new varieties of either, or enjoy an old favourite, I'll start a new Leaf and Bean post and talk about the aromatic and other impressions I experience. I hope you enjoy reading these--I'll be focusing on hot beverages for now since it's so cold in my city!!

Leaf and Bean, Part I

I visited TenRen's Tea & Ginseng shop for the very first time recently. Although I have known about the place for a while, this was the first time I ventured in. The shop smelled lovely, like rich black tea--just as one would expect.

I perused their tea menu for some time. Hmmm... What should I have? There were so many to chose from: White Tea, Jasmine Tea, Gunpowder Green Tea... Oh My!! The first thing I did to narrow my choices was decide between white, green, or black tea. I quickly decided on black, then scrutinized my choices. Oolong, yes. While not technically a black tea, it's semi-fermented and is sort of in between green and black. Okay but they had a few intriguing flavoured oolongs. Rose, lemon, jasmine... As a natural perfumer all of these were intriguing since all are used in perfume. But wait what's this one near the bottom of the list? Osmanthus Oolong... Okay, I've never tasted osmanthus, and I don't think I'd ever smelled it even, I know it's a flower and it's also a perfumery ingredient. Yes this will do nicely. I ordered the Osmanthus tea.

They steep each cup individually, using the loose leaf, strain and pour it into your cup. It was almost as expensive as a Starbuck's coffee but you know what? It was worth every penny. It was such a pleasure to have a gorgeous loose leaf tea brewed correctly, fresh, just for you.

The steam rose from the cup and brought the loveliest tea odour to my nose. Lovely! Definitely rich, almost smoky smelling oolong. And a gorgeous floral aroma. The experience in the mouth was very similar, rich tasting tea at first, then the floral-apricot flavours of the osmanthus petals become apparent. Absolutely delicious. I believe I will get some osmanthus for perfumery use.

The Scent of "Cold"

So winter is finally upon us in earnest after the mild temparatures have been letting us off so easy on us in these past few months. In the last half of January it is finally COLD, with ice, snow, and everything that normally comes with winter. For December and most of January, it was well above 0 degrees celsius, sometimes rising into the double digits. It rained a lot, green Christmas it was. But now it's payback time kids! So let's take it in stride, enjoy the winter while can and get outside--now we can skate, ski, or just take in the season.

Some guests arrived at my apartment the other night when it was sparklingly cold outside and brought a bit of the cold in with them, in the form of a wave of chilly air, and that distinct but elusive, fleeting smell of cold and snow. Do you know what I'm refering to? Sometimes on a very cold day there's that aroma outside in the air, but the smell is more obvious to me when sombody comes indoors from the out of doors and their coat carries a whiff of that cold scent for a few moments along with a blast of chilly air. How do you describe that scent? Is it really a scent at all? To me it's refreshing and crisp and always makes me think of down-filled parkas and comforters, and it reinforces the warm & cozy feeling inside on a cold night. But to me there's also a slightly threatening undercurrent to it as you imagine--for just a second--what it would feel like to be caught outside in that cold without a coat. I love that cold smell when someone brings it in from outside with them, but it always makes me shudder just a bit.

Dr. SulphurLove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flambé

I was cooking three kinds of organic apples to make an apple pie. Three kinds, not because I'm trying to show off or highlight the intricacies of various types of apples or any other such lofty culinary aspirations. It's just that we get a box of organic produce delivered from Field to Table every two weeks. It's pretty economical but you can't pick and choose what's comes in yoru box--whatever they can get that's organic and good quality and affordable can end up in the box, and they source local ingredients where possible. This being the middle of winter in Canada, options for fresh local produce are somewhat limited so we've gotten apples, apples, and more apples in pretty much every box since November. I like eating apples just fine, but there's a limit to how many I can eat before the novelty wears off (even with three different kinds). Consequently I ended up with a veggie crisper full to the brim with different kinds of apples. So what was a girl to do with a whole whack of appley goodness? Make a mile high apple pie of course!

I pre-cook apples for filling so that the pie isn't too liquidy inside and the bottom crust stays crisp. Especially since I just throw together a rustic pie on a cookie sheet (no frilly pie plates for me!) I need a good firm crust. I start looking for other things to add to flavour the apples. Demerara sugar? check. Cinnamon? meh. Apple Pie spice? Naah, something different please. I am a self-respecting foody after all, in addition to my many other charms, *snicker*
Aha! Chinese five spice powder will fit the bill nicely as it already has the ubiquitous cinnamon, plus other aromatics that go nicely with apples, especially the fragrant, softly liquorice-scented star anise. The subtle fiery hit from the pepper will suit too.

Okay so what else will go in my pie? Oh, silly me, how could I forget. Alcohol of course. But all I have is amber rum. Hmmm... apples, rum, spices. Yummy! Then I remembered the technique of flambé-ing, and how it caramelizes the sugar in the food and concentrates flavours. Perfect. So I add a shot (or two?) of rum, light a wood match and Whoosh! I'm cookin' with fire! Flambé-ing is for more than just showmanship, honest. Really.

Now the kitchen smells like sulphur from the matches, but also apples and hot rum. Mmm can't wait to have a piece of pie. I roll out the crust, dump the cooked apples in the middle of the dough, wrap the sides of the pastry over the edges of the pile, and throw the whole lot in the oven. Perfect. Now I have time to brave the elements and walk to the convenience store for some vanilla ice cream.

If you've never flambéd, you should try it some time. The aroma of concentrated rum and spices is quite wonderful. And I think tonight for my nightly cup of comfort, I'll have a hot buttered rum instead of my usual tea. Warmth for a cold winter night!

Here's what my finished rustic apple pie looks like. Mmmm...

Popcorn and Bad Perfume

Tonight as I was walking south of Queen Street on my way to the basketball game, a lady passed by me and I caught a whiff of her perfume... Too strong and not so pleasant--overly sweet and flowery but also chokingly powdery, but not in that classic Chanel No 5 way either. More like Chanel No 5 got together with a cheap men's cologne from the bargain store and this lady's perfume was the result of their union.

The smell of fresh, hot popcorn wafting around at the game made up for it though. I have a hard time resisting that aroma, even though I know it's probably not real butter. That oily salty roasted corn smell is too much for me! How do you like your popcorn? Mine is with olive oil, sea salt and rosemary from my garden.

(Oh, in case anyone is curious, the home team won!)

What I did tonite - early Mardi Gras!

Tonight I was treated for dinner by my beau at a local New Orleans restaurant. I started out with a "Sazerac" cocktail, something I've always wanted to try. The description sounded right up my alley and before I even had a sip I could tell it would be to my liking as it smelled exactly how I hoped it would smell -- Boozy and Bitter! I could clearly detect the aroma of Rye whisky and bitters as soon as it hit the table ... mmm! The food smelled equally delectable, with lovely smokey tomato notes wafting up from the jambalaya and charred spices from the chicken. We were seated in a tiny little room with barely enough space for a table for two, so it was a nice little out of the way nook for canoodling. A lovely evening to be sure!