Rosemary

Rosemary is memory in its rawest form. Brush past a bush in the sun and the scent stays on your hand for an hour, sharp, green and resinous. In a fragrance it does the same, waking the skin before the warmer notes arrive.

What rosemary is

Rosemary oil is steam distilled from the flowering tops of Rosmarinus officinalis, the evergreen Mediterranean shrub. The oil varies enormously by origin. Some rosemary is dominated by verbenone, some by camphor, and the type I use is rich in cineole, the fresh, slightly medicinal molecule that also gives eucalyptus its clarity. This cineole type is cleaner and more conifer like than the camphor heavy oils, and it sits more elegantly beside citrus and lavender.

Where our rosemary comes from

Ours comes from Tunisia, where rosemary grows wild across the dry hills of the north and the interior and is harvested by hand rather than farmed. Tunisian rosemary is the classic cineole type. The plant that survives on those stony, sun struck slopes produces an oil that is bright and resinous with a distinct conifer edge, less heavy and less camphoraceous than Spanish rosemary. It smells of the hill in the heat rather than the kitchen shelf.

How rosemary smells

Aromatic, camphoraceous, conifer and resinous. There is a green freshness at the top that reads almost like pine, then a warm herbal body, and a faintly sweet, woody trail that lingers after the sharpness has gone.

Rosemary in our chapters

• VChérie OudThe Trunk · in the opening

  In Chérie Oud it opens the chapter with Bulgarian lavender and citrus, a green edge that keeps the gourmand heart from ever feeling sweet for its own sake.

• VIISultanat OudThe Deep Roots · in the opening

  In Sultanat Oud it joins French lavender and cardamom in the opening, the aromatic clarity above the deep roots.

A note from the atelier

Rosemary is my safeguard against sweetness. Wherever a chapter has vanilla or tonka waiting beneath, I place rosemary near the top, and the whole composition stays awake.

Questions about rosemary