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Fragrant: The Secret Life Of Scent (2014)

by Mandy Aftel(Favorite Author)

3.7 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1594631417 (ISBN13: 9781594631412)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Riverhead Hardcover

review 1: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I've been sick a lot this fall and by the time I was well enough to try to place a review, pretty much every place already had someone reviewing this book - and giving it well-deserved rave reviews.I first learned of Mandy Aftel through a book she wrote with Chef Daniel Patterson of Coi: Aroma. A friend abandoned the book at my house after we had a falling out in the aughts and I fell in love with the book and the concept of adding to the flavor of foods by adding to the scent experience of it.I absolutely loved "Fragrant" as well- In lucid, lovely prose Aftel explores the cultural histories of five scents: cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine. She delves into the connections, ma... moreny of them profound, between human emotion and desires and our sense of smell. She also gives careful, detailed world histories of the use of these fragrances.I particularly gravitated towards the essays on cinnamon, mint and jasmine. As Aftel describes it, cinnamon taps into our taste for adventure, while mint taps into the familiar and jasmine calls up beauty. The essays on frankincense and ambergris were fascinating at more of a remove, because they didn't involve smells that are especially linked to my emotional memory. In connection with reading this book, I also ordered a number of Aftel's chef's essential oils to try out in my cooking and cocktail making (violet vodka martinis, coriander salad dressing, and ginger on roasted vegetables), and that, too, has been a wonderful kind of education and exploration inspired by this book, which belongs alongside other wonderful cultural history books related to our sense of smell and memory/emotion: Diana Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses Chandler Burr's The Emperor of Scent about Luca Turin and Alyssa Harad's memoir Coming to My Senses.
review 2: I received this book (an uncorrected proof) through a Goodreads giveaway.I really enjoyed this book. I have never read anything by this author before, but I can see how highly passionate she is about being a artisan perfumer. I guess my sense of smell is something that I never really thought about in depth, but now I am able to look at things with a different perspective. The book focuses of five key natural scent materials; there are origin stories, lore, and information on why they are much sought after in perfumery. There is also information available to those who might be interested in starting out in the path of perfumery.While I have no real interest in become a perfumer, I still thorough enjoy the stories and information that the author provided. less

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