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Bois Farine


At The Miller's, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

Another post for wheat, in celebration of the wheat harvest holiday!

In the magical book Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle by Simone Schwarz-Bart (sadly it was not translated to English to the best of my knowlege) Télumée mentioned in her sotry innumerable times the Breadfruit Tree, which was boiled in water or roasted on fire, and used as a staple in most meals by the natives of the French Caribbean islands.

When I heard of Bois Farine, I could not help but think of that tree, which I have never seen, smelled or touched, but just read about in a book. This is clearly not the same tree at all. But my associations are stubborn and I keep thinking of Télumée and her long, eventful life, full of little moments of happiness and plentiful of long periods of pain, sadness and loss, and her strength in living through them till her last day, embracing all the ups and downs of life. I first read the book as a teen, and ever since than I feel a lot more at peace with the idea of aging, death and the downs of life... Definitely a book to come back to every once in a while.

Jean Claude Ellena’s creation of Bois Farine for l’Artisan Parfumeur is said to be inspired by the flower of the “Flour Tree”, Ruizia Cordata, that is genuine to the Réunion islands. The tree bears red flowers with a distinct floury, starchy aroma. The perfume almost lives up to this premise, commencing with an accord of fennel and white starchy wheat flour going up your nostrils and you knead that dough or visit the local miller to pick up freshly ground flour. It also has an aftertaste of crushed raw peanuts at first – oily and subtly earthy, barely detectable aroma. However, it quickly turns into an iris perfume, slightly floral and sweet with notes of cedar and musk and slightly vanillic underpinnings, not unlike Hiris, which reminded me of certain semolina patties, and not unlike Bvlgari au The Blanc with its underlining heliotrope and white musk sweetness (also by Jean Claude Ellena).

Notes: Fennel, Flour (Farine) Tree Flower, Cedar, Guiacwood, Iris, Sandalwood, Benzoin.

Available online via:
The Perfume Shoppe
Aedes
LuckyScent

To read other reviews and different opinions of this perfume, visit these blogs:
Now Smell This
Bois de Jasmin

Image of the Flour Tree via Wikipedia.

Happy Shavuot!


Shavuot 2006 - 1.6.06, originally uploaded by ISH-10-M.

Happy Shavuot - the Wheat Harvest Holiday!
I am celebrating with the customary dairy dishes, good cheese and wine.
Below is a recipe for my favourite dish for the holiday, Blintzes.

Blintzes!


Blintzes are these fantastic little thinner-than-crepe pancakes, filled with good stuff (sweet or savoury) and rolled up. They can be served warm, cold or at room temperature - depending on the filling. Blintzes filled with a sweet cheese filling have become a traditional holiday food in Israel for Shavuot. For the cold ones, you'll need to use a specialty cheese that cannot be found in (most of) North America (I am pretty sure you will be able to find "Gevinah Levanah in Brooklin LOL!). So I am going to offer here only the recipe for the baked cheese blintzes, which my dearest grandmother Ruth gave me. They are absolutely divine!

For the Blintzes:
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tbs. vegetable oil of your choice (preferably non-GMO, such as organic grapeseed oil)
3/4 cup unbleached wheat flour
salt to taste (no more than 1/2 tsp.)
Butter for greasing the pan
Mix together all the ingredients in the above order
Pour 2 Tbs. at a time on a hot girdle or pan (greased with melted butter)
Smooth and spread around (like you do with crepes) to form a round, pretty form
Fry only on one side, and once finished, set aside on a plate, stacked with their fried side up, until ready to fill them all.

For the filling:
2 cups soft, unripened cheese (such as ricotta or quark cheese, or cottage cheese; if you like this to be more creamy and smooth and less crumbly, you can substitute some cream cheese or sour cream for part of the cheese - but no more than 1/2 cup, otherwise it may be too runny!)
1 egg yolk
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Grated lemon peel of 1 lemon
Raisins (optional)
* Additional sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling on the top (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 celsius.
Fill the Blintzes with one Tbs. of the filling, roll and close from both ends. Layer on a butter-greased pan, and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and sugar (if desired).
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and the sugar has melted.

Serve warm (not hot!) or at room temperature. These are perfect on their own, but will happily lend themselves to a garnish of strawberry or other fruit or even Creme Fraiche or ice cream on the side. But these will be completely unnecessary because these Blintzes truly are perfect the way they are!
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