Tag: scent

Scent Dinner, when a perfume inspires menus and drinks – Italian Cuisine

From sumptuous parties of the late nineteenth century to the fragrances of today. The St. Regis of Venice offers a special sensorial experience inspired by Caroline Astor, matriarch of the founding family of the hotel brand

The holidays of Caroline Astor they were legend. Matriarch of the founding family of the prestigious hotel brand St. Regis, today part of the group Marriott, Mrs Astor knew how to organize the most exclusive receptions of New York in the late nineteenth century, transforming her own ballroom in a riot of palm trees, quince flowers, white lilies, cherry trees and American roses. All for an exclusive list of 400 distinguished guests, representatives of the highest spheres of society of the time, invited to wear their best clothes and to take part in these thousand and one night parties.

And so today that same magic lives on also in Italy, and to be precise on the Grand Canal of Venice, in the fresh reopening spaces of The St. Regis Venice. Here, in fact, you can let yourself be intoxicated by the new fragrance Caroline’s Four Hundred, obviously dedicated to Mrs Astor and her famous "list of 400", while tasting a menu and a selection of drinks made especially for the occasion. In a wonderful ton sur ton of perfumes that includes plate and glass, thus giving an all-round sensory experience.

The perfume designer Carlos Huber and the chef Nadia Frisina

The fragrance

"Perfume has the rare ability to transport us to other times and places in the most intimate way possible," he comments Carlos Huber, designer and founder of Arquiste Parfumeur, the brand that created the Caroline’s Four Hundred room fragrance. "Collaborating with St. Regis to enclose the rich history of the brand and its modern refinement in a unique and exclusive olfactory experience was an honor. What we have tried to achieve is a contemporary perfume, very current, but at the same time capable of communicating a timeless charm . The chronicles of the time that told the sumptuous parties of Mrs Astor, extrapolated directly from the New York newspapers, thus suggested the different scents of the fragrance: starting from exotic woods of the ballroom, to get to the palm trees, ai flowers that decorated the corridors and the sparkling essence of Champagne that spread among the crowd. The result, enclosed in an elegant bottle, can also be purchased on the official portal of the St. Regis.

Menu and cocktail pairing

Between a pinch of American rose and some pleasant citrus notes, the scent of Caroline Astor is released into the air and burst into the kitchen. And that's how it is Nadia Frisina, executive chef of the restaurant Gio's, set inside The St. Regis Venice, has developed a special menu on request for the occasion, to be enjoyed in combination with the cocktails studied by the hotel bar manager Facundo Gallegos. Here then the appetizer, a Carpaccio of Amberjack with bergamot, capers and mint, is served with a "Rose Flight", a refreshing gin cocktail with rose liqueur, bergamot and violet. While the second course, a Scottona fillet with figs, Tropea onion and grapefruit, is accompanied with an «Exquisite Woodiness, a revisited Manhattan, with resin liqueur and cedar wood essence. The dessert, a Sicilian ricotta tart with almonds and marzipan with jasmine tea, is then combined with a "Nutty Blossom", a drink inspired by one of the most popular cocktails of the early twentieth century, the Adonise, revisited with a more decisive note of hazelnuts. To celebrate this Scent Dinner with a last drink, finally, the glasses for the top «Golden 400, prepared with Champagne, gold powder and Calvados. A cocktail of sumptuous elegance and a rich olfactory bouquet, which would certainly have delighted Mrs. Astor and her guests.

Myrtle, scent of Mediterranean scrub in the kitchen – Italian Cuisine

Landings on the island. And it arrives: that perfume unmistakable Mediterranean maquis, engraved for millennia under the skin of ours nostrils.

Rosemary (also exquisite for hair health!) Cistus, broom, mastic, euphorbia and thyme (powerful antiseptic). And then he, the myrtle, an aromatic plant sacred to the gods or better to goddesses. Because if Eve covered herself with a fig leaf, Aphrodite emerged naked from the foam of the sea and went straight to a bush of myrtle to seize the branches e conceal at the sight of the Earth the its set off more in time. Fecundity, life, joy and love: what symbol can be more beautiful?!?

It's a shrub evergreen of height that oscillates between the half a meter e the three meters. TObelongs to the Myrtaceee family (syoussa dei cloves). THEis its buds appear to be micro-pearls that bloom in wonderful flowers white with long stamens to fair ray. The berries they are his children ovoid fruits, of violet-blue-black color.

THE its essential oils have various officinal properties, especially anti-inflammatory and astringents and then digestive and various others.

Although this plant is linked in our imagination to the Sardinia in particular – and with reason! – myrtle grows everywhere in the coastal regions of our peninsula and is also used in some southern recipes, in particular pugliesi and bells. A Typical Agri-food Product of the Cilento and the mozzarella cheese in the mortella, that is wrapped in myrtle leaves . And even Rome was in antiquity considered the "City of myrtle". Before the arrival of pepper removed it from his main role in Italian gastronomy.

The famous liquor "Mfraught " you can easily do it at home like a limoncello or any other liqueur obtained by alcoholic maceration. What part to use of the plant? The ripe berries, that you collect between late November and late January for the classic red version (or 'black' myrtle, of very dark berries, che begin to announce their next wither with the first wrinkles. And the white myrtle? It is commonly understood that obtained from the maceration of leaves and buds, that are harvested in spring, with a less sweet taste and an aroma more delicate and vaguely sharp. But be careful! There is also the white myrtle obtained from a "albino" variety of berries.

In the kitchen myrtle is traditionally used to flavor meat dishes. Pork first and then poultry: (hen in particular) e cacciagione, for example pheasant and quail. There are also recipes with rabbit and lamb. Typical cooking is roast but also lto lessatura: often, once boiled together with myrtle branches, the meats they are left to rest at least one day wrapped in leaves and berries.

The truth is that this aromatic plant is revealed amazing even with some seafood dishes. Unmatched i prawns with myrtle! In the Algherese recipe, which also includes other ingredients, the base is to heat the coarse salt with the myrtle leaves in a pan (at least 5 minutes) and then place the cleaned prawns on top (quickly, two minutes!). But the myrtle it can also flavor a slice of tuna rather that of another fish.

Then there are others creative recipes which provide for it. In the first courses, try the risotto and then advise you to try your hand at a pesto, made with its leaves beaten together with almonds, garlic, oil and pecorino.

There marmalade (loud!) and the honey of myrtle are delicious combined with cheeses, starting from pecorino, but also used in confectionery, for example with the shortcrust. And then: for years we hear again talk about the flowers on the plate. And why not those of myrtle, laid to embellish one fruit salad?

Carola Traverso Saibante
December 2019

DISCOVER THE COOKING COURSES OF SALT & PEPE

In addition to the scent of bergamot – Italian Cuisine

"I represent the third generation of a family of farmers since 1951. My parents had a plot of four hectares with plants of orange tarot but, given the economic trend, in 2015 we have grubbed up citrus fruits and planted a thousand bergamots for most of the fantastic cultivar quality ": this is Mario Menniti, twenty-eight of Monasterace who, with a degree in Natural Sciences, took over the reins of the family business, giving life to Bergamore to build a future by enhancing its territory.

Bergamot, not only for essences

Just in the area governed by the law for the protected designation of origin "Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria – essential oil" PDO, an area that has always had an agricultural vocation, operating in the production, processing and marketing of bergamot, the young Calabrese decided to place attention to respect for nature with its wonderful colors and fragrances, always seeking the authenticity of ancient flavors. “When we talk about bergamot we immediately think of essential oils used, as a fixative, by the best perfumers around the world. But, as has been discovered in recent times, the juice of the fruit has natural healing properties, for this reason it has begun to take into consideration also the pulp and not just the peel. With this awareness, in March of this year, I started to realize the idea of marketing the fresh fruit "continues Menniti stressing that the natural cure-all the green gold of Calabria is defined precisely because of its uniqueness, as it is cultivated only in the province of Reggio Calabria, on the coast that goes from Scilla to Monasterace, by virtue of the quality of the alluvial and clay soils.
Bergamore was established recently but Menniti already has clear ideas: he has collaborated with the Calabrian Nutritionist Biology Association to plan together activities that promote bergamot throughout the entire national territory; on July 29, presented the project as part of an event organized by Coldiretti Giovani Impresa in Catanzaro Lido; aims to provide restaurateurs, confectioners but also many private consumers, convinced that bergamot should be increasingly present in the shopping list of Italians.

How to adopt a bergamot tree

"Our first activity, launched on 1 July, is Adopt a bergamot tree: we offer the adoption of a bergamot tree, guaranteeing the customer to receive the precious and protected fruit. Paying an annual fee, including any shipping and tree maintenance costs, you can order a 7 or 10 kg bergamot box, choosing to personify the tree with a name but also if you pick the fruit in December, January and February or directly receive the fresh product ”explains the Calabrian entrepreneur showing the handcrafted poplar plywood box from the“ Menniti and Mercuri ”carpentry, among other things presented to the Catanzaro Design Week for its innovativeness and sustainability as it , during disposal, it can be used as a planter or object holder.
The adoption can take place directly on the site www.bergamore.net, where it is possible to find the nutraceutical section with information on the properties and benefits of bergamot as an essential ingredient in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic sectors, but also a blog with sweet and savory recipes bergamot base, curated by chef Valentina Amato, founder of the Il Piatto Giusto cooking school.
"We are ready to expand and discover other worlds like that of cosmetics but we also aim at foreign marketing, especially in Asian markets that are attentive to the use of bergamot in aromatherapy and in the prevention of depression and Alzheimer's disease", concludes Menniti, declaring himself satisfied with the success achieved so far: 250 bergamot trees adopted from various parts of Italy, in just two months.

by Gabriella Cantafio