Saffron

From Lise Manniche (Sacred Luxuries), “…The well-known flower pistils of Crocus sativus relate to Egypt only as far as saffron is an ingredient in the kyphi recipe provided by Galen.  This presumably occurred because saffron was much loved in the classical world for its scent as well as its colour.  It was known in the Bible as karcom.  It has long been grown in Europe, and grew in Persia where it was cultivated in the 10th century AD.

…Pliny praises saffron from Soli in Cilicia, later superseded by saffron from Rhodes.  He quotes a recipe for saffron perfume, crocinum, which also included cinnabar (a naturally occurring mineral), wine and alkanet (a dyeing plant).  Theophrastus claims that in his day the best saffron for perfume came from the island of Aegina and from Cilicia…” (p.23)

When I read this passage, a passage from Arctander comes to mind, wherein he observes a tendency to opine that things just don’t smell the way they used to.

But is it just a ‘things just ain’t the way they used to be, grrr’ tendency, or is there some validity to it?  I have to wonder, given how the climate has changed, how the air is now full of pollutants that did not exist thousands of years ago, and how those pollutants and aromatic compounds must negatively impact our nasal receptors.

Observation for the day:
The ‘golden age’ of scent probably started in the fertile crescent several thousand years ago.

Plan for the day:
Create something with saffron as a predominant note, but something that is not foodie/gourmand.