Fresh or hot spices?

History of spices

The potential of spices was first exploited in ancient Egypt. The subjects of the Pharaohs were great consumers of spices, both for use in daily life and for embalming during funeral ceremonies. The wealthier Egyptians burned cinnamon in their homes to combat the stench of the streets.

The Egyptian pharmacopoeias (collections of medical prescriptions) consisted of large stores of spices, most of which were considered to be real remedies.

There are several reasons why the spice trade became so important. First of all, it was a lucrative trade; secondly, spices were easily transportable and consumed in large quantities, especially by the higher classes of society. The success of spices was also due to the poor quality of the food consumed.

The latter, when not half-rotten, were bathed in salt (the only suitable means of preservation at the time) during mass production. Wines, beers and vinegars shipped by boat were among the few preserved commodities. Spices were very expensive, so spicy drinks were especially popular with people of a certain social class.

Until about the 16th century, the flow of spices followed the route of the Arab caravans to Constantinople and Alexandria. From then on, the goods were sent to their destination by Italian ships. The spice trade thus transformed the small cities of Venice and Genoa into brilliant metropolises.

Similarly, the economic wealth of the spice trade made possible great cultural advances in northern Italy, especially through the generosity of patrons, wealthy merchants, towards artists, architects and philosophers.

 

 

Spice trade

In the 15th century, the old trade routes were interrupted, breaking the monopoly of the Italian ports on the spice trade. The race for spices and the relentless search for new trade routes sent great explorers to the seas. Christopher Columbus in 1492, thinking he was heading for India, landed in the Bahamas where he discovered allspice peppers and vanilla.

In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in India, where he discovered cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and mace.

* Voltaire's expression "cher comme poivre" (expensive as pepper) was a reference to the invective pepper bag, which dates from the Middle Ages and was used to describe a very rich man (spices being very expensive at the time).

 

Categories of spices

There are two categories of spices: hot and fresh.

In perfumery, spices immediately evoke heat and a "spicy" side. But while it is true that they can be hot, they are also vectors of freshness. Fresh spices tend to act as top notes, while warm spices develop mainly as heart and base notes.

 

Fresh spices

Spices considered fresh are cardamom, coriander, ginger, juniper berries, pink and Timut peppers.

• Cardamom

Cardamom comes from India and is a member of the same family as ginger and turmeric. It comes mainly from Guatemala and India.
In Egypt, it was called "the seed of the angels" and had divine properties. Cleopatra used to perfume her palate with it before each visit of Marc Antony.
The plant itself can grow up to five metres tall. There are green and black cardamoms.
Its fragrant seeds are distilled to produce essential oil for the perfume industry. This cardamom essence is very expensive because it requires a lot of labour. 30 kg of cardamom yields 1 kg of essential oil, is also available in absolute form and can be processed by the C02 process.
It is considered a cold spice, slightly camphorated, green and terpene.

• Coriander

Native to the Middle East, coriander is also known as "Chinese parsley" or "Arabic parsley". It belongs to the same botanical family as the carrot. Its scent is very uplifting, fresh like citrus, lemony and slightly camphorated. There are olfactory differences depending on which part is processed (the leaves or the seeds).

• Ginger

This spice, which has been highly appreciated since its discovery by Marco Polo (who brought it back from China), is the rhizome of a tropical plant. Ginger is a rising note, prized by perfumers. It is fresh, citrusy and rosy. Its spicy side can sometimes give a soapy scent to perfumes.

• Juniper berries

From the juniper tree (Juniperus communis), these European berries are used in cooking to accompany dishes, as well as in the production of gin. Juniper berries are used in perfumery through the distillation of the fruit.

• Pink pepper

Coming from South America, pink pepper, or pink berries, is a false pepper, fresh and airy, which combines very well with citrus notes. It is frequently used in perfumery as a top note.

• Timut pepper

A variety of pepper recently used by perfumers, Timut (or Timur) pepper is a false pepper, similar to Sichuan pepper. It has a grapefruit scent.

 

Hot spices

Hot spices used in perfumery include: nutmeg and its husk (mace), cinnamon wood, peppers, saffron, and finally, chilli berries.

• Nutmeg

Nutmeg has, among other things, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. It is also used in cooking to enhance a dish (it is one of the famous "Four Spices").

Its note is spicy, dry, warm and deep, and can evoke a leathery note, with a medicated camphoraceous side, a clove facet, and an earthy note.

Eugenol, methyl eugenol and isoeugenol are molecules found in cloves and nutmeg. All of these molecules are restricted or even prohibited by IFRA (International Fragrance Association) laws and are naturally present in ylang-ylang and rose oil.

• Cinnamon wood

Cinnamon has been used for thousands of years. Most of the cinnamon wood production is in Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and Madagascar. The spice is harvested every two years and the wood, which is very fine, must be dried in the sun before being processed by distillation.

• Peppers

There are three types of pepper: black, white and green. They come from different degrees of maturation, but from the same variety: Piper Nigrum. It is a highly prized spice, both for consumption and in perfumery.

• Saffron

Nicknamed "red gold", saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. It comes from a crocus pistil. It is not used in perfumery because it contains allergenic components. However, a substitute exists, saffronal, which gives a very strong and spicy leathery note to perfumes.

• Chilli berries

Native to the West Indies and mainly harvested in Jamaica, chilli berries are processed by distillation, as are the leaves (which are then called "chilli leaf"). Its fragrance is spicy, and is somewhere between nutmeg and cinnamon, while evoking cloves.

 

Sylvaine Delacourte perfumes

You will find a mixture of spices in Vangelis and Helicriss, carnation in Florentina and cardamom in Olyssia.

Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.