Feeding A Journey to Mars.

A very interesting article from the Associated Press about the long-term planning that is going on now to feed the 6-8 astronauts slated to go to Mars in 2030.  Among the topics of interest: growing their own food in greenhouses, having one designated “chef astronaut”, and spending 18 months as a “space vegan”.

Martian Dinner

A Perfume Evoking the Scent of a Freshly Printed Book

We all gravitate towards smells that might not be considered, “classically beautiful” in the perfumery lexicon. For some people it’s the smell of an old leather armchair. For others it might be petrol, or the smell of wet pavement. For German publisher Gerhard Steidl, it was the scent of a “freshly printed book.”

This remark at a Wallpaper magazine party led to a collaboration between perfumer Geze Schoen, Karl Lagerfeld, and Steidl that created the just released “Paper Passion”, a perfume meant to smell like a freshly printed book. Lagerfeld has designed the packaging, housing it inside a real book with the pages cut out so the bottle can nestle within. The pages are printed with essays on paper from the likes of Gunter Grass, Lagerfeld, and Wallpaper editor-in-chief Tony Chambers.

Apparently designing a book perfume was almost as challenging as writing a book itself. They wanted to keep the ingredients to four or five components, which made it even more difficult. Explains Schoen, ““The smell of printed paper is dry and fatty; they are not notes you often work with.”

Paper Passion is a phenomenal idea as a concept scent and a perfect present for any sensual bibliophiles you might have had a hard time picking out that unique something for. It is now available in concept stores, online, and in bookshops and perfumeries.

Announcing Tony C. as a GQ Online Contributor!

Tony C is now contributing to GQ online! Read his debut article about how to make a perfect Negroni and make sure to check out GQ online for all his upcoming features.

                                                         How to make a perfect Negroni.

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is Lulo. Lulo,  a fruit also known as ‘Naranjilla’ or ‘little orange’ is a member of the nightshade family.  Lulo is native to the Andes mountains in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The fruit grows on a bush and has a leather-like orange skin covered with a hairy fuzz. The leaves of the bush are heart-shaped and covered in short purple hairs. The inside of the small fruit looks like green tomato crossed with a passion fruit. The flesh is delicious, with a flavour lying somewhere between rhubarb, lime, pineapple, and, lemon.  The fruit’s aromas boast glycosidic bonds, meaning that the aromas are bonded onto sugar molecules, making the fruit’s unique aroma less likely to dissipate during processing or cooking.  The seeds in the flesh are edible.

Lulo belongs to the same family of plants as the tomato and is just as fragile as a tomato fruit. Couple that with the fact that Lulo fruits like very specific growing conditions and you find a fruit that is not yet readily available worldwide.

The most popular method of consumption is in juice, which is a exotic green-orangey froth when blended, and a chunky green mash when squeezed directly from the fruit. Commercial versions of Lulo juice can be purchased online.

The Lulo can also be eaten out of hand, in the same manner as a passion fruit. Lulo ice cream is very popular in Colombia, and in some countries the Lulo fruit is made into wine. Drink Factory had the opportunity to try a drink made with the juice in London at the bar in the Dorchester and we found it to be a complex, fruity component of the drink that lent great acidity and top-note aromas. A highly recommended ingredient, indeed.

Flavour of the Week

The flavour of the week is Ramsons. Ramsons are a plant with a taste lying somewhere between garlic and leeks, with a pleasant grassy undertone. They are also known as wood garlic, broad-leafed garlic, and bear’s garlic- owing to the ursine predilection for the plant.

Ramsons have long broad-stemmed leaves and lovely white flowers resembling Lily-of-the-Valley. They grow in wetter deciduous woodlands, often close to the coastline. They are capable of wiping out other herbs in the surrounding area and forming dense stands amongst the trees. When they are in bloom the entire area is redolent with their sharp garlicky smell.

The entire plant is edible. The leaves can be used in salads, boiled as a vegetable, or as a seasoning agent. The flowers give off a strong aromatic garlic scent and can be used much in the same way as a chive blossom. In Russia it is popular to salt and preserve the stems and bulbs for use in salads. Ramsons can also be used to flavour the milk of grazing animals, thereby affecting the cheese and butter that they produce.

Use Ramsons in place of leeks, ramps, shallots, or garlic in recipes that call for these ingredients.

Salt Made from Human Tears

 If you're looking to take your cooking skills up a notch to impress friends and family why not consider the latest trend? Salt made from human tears. That's right! Salt made from human tears.
And since we all know that tears come in all sorts and on sorts of different occasions you have five varieties to choose from. Maybe your curry needs a pinch of tears from anger to ratchet up the heat. Perhaps your roast just needs to be cheered up a bit to come out all right- salt from laughter to the rescue!
Sadly, Monster Supplies is currently sold out of these salts at the moment. I'm sure they will get more back in soon, however. They just need people to cry a bit more first.
 Salt From Human Tears

Food and Cocktail Pairing in the Guardian

Brand new article in the Guardian online exploring food and cocktail pairings with Tony C and Bernard Lahousse! For article click here.