Janoschka magazine Linked_V5_2020

issue #5 ©
l i n k e d
29
Even if only for a moment, we enter
a world that is wholly sensual.
This is reflected in the words we
use to describe fragrances: earthy,
soft, verdant, mossy, fruity, warm,
tangy, powdery, spicy or flowery.
The list is long and our imagination
knows no limits.
But how can we capture, mix,
let alone conserve something as
ephemeral as a fragrance. To find
the answer let us travel to Grasse
in the hinterland of the Côte
d’Azur. Here, amid lavender fields
and gardens of lemons, oranges,
roses, jasmine, thyme and rosemary,
is the world centre of perfume-makers.
This is the heart of
Provence, where legendary scents
were created. And it is here that,
ever since the Renaissance, the
master perfumers, known as nez
(nose) on account of their acute
sense of smell, discovered the
most diverse methods for extracting
fragrances in their purest form
and developed and refined them
further. The techniques ranged
from steam distillation, enfleurage
(extraction using fat), maceration
(warm enfleurage) or expression.
All of them were used to wrest
fragrant secrets from the various
herbs, flowers, blossoms, peels,
barks and leaves, transforming
them into sumptuous essences
and filling them into bottles.
And thus perfume, this ethereal
mixture of essential oils and alcohol
that was considered sensual,
expensive and exclusive,
was born. The court of the Sun
King Louis XIV in Versailles soon
became the leading customer for
this luxury article. At the same
time, these fragrant essences
could be processed and refined in
an infinite variety of ways.
With invention of the alambic in
around the ninth century the
Arabs refined the distillation process.
The rising steam condenses on the
walls of the helmet-shaped lid and
flows into the collection vessel.