{"id":107,"date":"2012-02-02T18:48:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T18:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/02\/valentines-roses-and-chocolate-the-scent-of-romance\/"},"modified":"2012-02-02T18:48:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-02T18:48:00","slug":"valentines-roses-and-chocolate-the-scent-of-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/02\/valentines-roses-and-chocolate-the-scent-of-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentine\u2019s, Roses and Chocolate – the scent of romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is the second in my series of articles for the Shropshire Magazine, this time looking at the history of Valentine\u2019s Day and it\u2019s association with gifts and incorporating a little foray into gourmand perfumes.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/div>\n

\n<\/a>You can see a pdf scan of the article<\/a> as it appeared in the magazine or the unedited version in plain pdf<\/a>, which is also presented here:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nValentine\u2019s, roses and chocolate \u2013 the scent of romance<\/span><\/div>\n
\nValentine\u2019s Day has been irrevocably associated with romance since<\/span><\/div>\n
\nthe 19th <\/span>century. For many it\u2019s a chance to express things usually left<\/span><\/div>\n
\nunspoken, often with the aid of roses, chocolate and perfume.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nYou probably know it was originally the feast day of Saint Valentine \u2013 you<\/span><\/div>\n
\nmay not know there were several saints of that name (at least two, possibly<\/span><\/div>\n
\nthree) celebrated on that day and more who were not. These early Christian<\/span><\/div>\n
\nmartyrs \u2013 the feast day was established in 496 AD \u2013 didn\u2019t preach anything<\/span><\/div>\n
\nto do with romantic engagements. Sadly there\u2019s no evidence that any of the<\/span><\/div>\n
\nlore associating these early saints with love and romance is historical fact<\/span><\/div>\n
\nand some of it was plainly invented for marketing purposes in the Internet<\/span><\/div>\n
\nage. There is a splendid Wikipedia article on the subject if you are interested<\/span><\/div>\n
\nin exploring what is known.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nChaucer and late medieval traditions of courtly love had a significant<\/span><\/div>\n
\ninfluence on modern Valentine\u2019s Day ideas and certainly included the giving<\/span><\/div>\n
\nof flowers: by the Victorian period there is a complex language, where<\/span><\/div>\n
\nparticular flowers have meanings and elaborate messages could be sent in a<\/span><\/div>\n
\nposy. As a perfumer the concept of combining flowers is obviously dear to<\/span><\/div>\n
\nme and the 19th <\/span>century also sees an explosion in the types and numbers of<\/span><\/div>\n
\nperfumes available. I\u2019ll return to flowers \u2013 roses \u2013 in a moment, but first<\/span><\/div>\n
\nchocolate . . .<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nChocolate<\/span><\/div>\n
\nChocolate itself can be traced back at least 4000 years \u2013 as far back as<\/span><\/div>\n
\nperfume \u2013 but for centuries it was only known in the Americas and even<\/span><\/div>\n
\nafter it arrived in Europe it was only consumed as a drink until 19th <\/span>Century<\/span><\/div>\n
\ninventors learnt to make solid chocolate. The association with perfumery is<\/span><\/div>\n
\nmore recent \u2013 an extract of the same beans of Theobroma cacao<\/i> has been<\/span><\/div>\n
\navailable to perfumers for decades but it\u2019s only in the mid-20th <\/span>century that<\/span><\/div>\n
\nits use became popular. The rise of gourmand fragrances \u2013 perfumes that<\/span><\/div>\n
\nuse scents reminiscent of food \u2013 began with Shalimar<\/i>, the now legendary<\/span><\/div>\n
\n1925 Guerlain<\/i> scent.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nNow I\u2019m not suggesting it\u2019s in the same league with Shalimar<\/i>, but I was<\/span><\/div>\n
\ninspired to create a gourmand myself: Imagine walking into a very special<\/span><\/div>\n
\nsweetshop \u2013 the sort of place that is full of fine quality chocolates with all<\/span><\/div>\n
\nsorts of exotic fillings behind a glass counter. Every kind of luxury<\/span><\/div>\n
\nconfection is on display from Turkish delight to Italian ice cream. Tuesday\u2019s<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\nof Market Drayton<\/i> is just such a place and as a lover of fine chocolates I<\/span><\/div>\n
\nhave been a regular visitor ever since I first discovered the place. Eventually<\/span><\/div>\n
\nI just had to try to capture the wonderful, tempting smell that hits you when<\/span><\/div>\n
\nyou enter the shop and the result is Tuesdays<\/i><\/b> \u2013 which you can now buy<\/span><\/div>\n
\nalongside the chocolates in Tuesday\u2019s<\/i>, an association of which I\u2019m rather<\/span><\/div>\n
\nproud.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAn evening in with a gourmand scent and luxury chocolates might be a<\/span><\/div>\n
\nbigger temptation than an evening out at even the very best restaurant in<\/span><\/div>\n
\ntown, and did you know that Champagne goes well with bitter chocolate<\/span><\/div>\n
\ntoo?<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nRoses<\/span><\/div>\n
\nEveryone knows that red roses mean love in the language of flowers but<\/span><\/div>\n
\nyou\u2019ve probably also been disappointed that many don\u2019t have any significant<\/span><\/div>\n
\nscent: that\u2019s because they were bred for their appearance and the scent has<\/span><\/div>\n
\nbeen lost in the process. Roses have been in cultivation since ancient times<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u2013 probably the oldest cultivated decorative plant \u2013 and fortunately there are<\/span><\/div>\n
\nplenty of them that are still scented. In Bulgaria, Morocco and Turkey huge<\/span><\/div>\n
\nfields of Rosa damascena<\/i> \u2013 the Damascus Rose \u2013 are grown for the perfume<\/span><\/div>\n
\nindustry.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIt takes a great deal of effort to capture the scent of the rose: something of<\/span><\/div>\n
\nthe order of 50,000 flowers to make 30ml of oil \u2013 roughly 60 roses per drop.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWhen you realise that every flower has been picked by hand, you can see<\/span><\/div>\n
\nwhy the resulting oil is so expensive.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nFortunately a little rose oil goes a long way and a few drops added to many<\/span><\/div>\n
\nperfumes will add depth and complexity, even when you are not consciously<\/span><\/div>\n
\naware of the rose scent. Combine rose with vanilla and you can create a<\/span><\/div>\n
\nwonderfully sweet, persistent scent that says summer rose garden as clear as<\/span><\/div>\n
\nday. Blended with other flowers and precious woods and something more<\/span><\/div>\n
\nexotic and sultry emerges to accompany you on that romantic evening out.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe rose is a wonderful ingredient I\u2019d hate to be without.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nSo what will you be buying or hoping for on the feast of Saint Valentine this<\/span><\/div>\n
\nyear \u2013 a scentless red rose in a plastic tube or a little bottle containing the<\/span><\/div>\n
\nessence of a thousand roses?<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nChris Bartlett is the owner of Pell Wall Perfumes; a Shropshire based perfumery producing exclusive fragrances for<\/span><\/div>\n
\nmen, for women, for the home and specialising in making unique bespoke fragrances. More information is available<\/span><\/div>\n
\non the website: www.pellwall-perfumes.com.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is the second in my series of articles for the Shropshire Magazine, this time looking at the history of Valentine\u2019s Day and it\u2019s association with gifts and incorporating a little foray into gourmand perfumes. You can see a pdf scan of the article as it appeared in the magazine or the unedited version in plain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53,7,13,78,83],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pellwallhelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}