Memo Paris: Scent, Memory, and Serious Romance

Left: Husband and wife John and Clara Molloy of Memo Paris. Right: A fragrance dedicated to John's Irish heritage.(All images courtesy of Memo Paris.)

If the best scents come out of unexpected juxtapositions, the forces behind Memo Paris, a beyond-romantic new fragrance brand traveling here from Paris (where else?) this fall, certainly fit the profile. When Clara and John Molloy—she, Parisian; he, from the Irish countryside—met while dangling on a ski lift, they knew their journey together would certainly involve romance but also travel and creativity.
Memo references memory, says Clara, who serves as creative director for the brand and works with perfumer Alienor Massenet, of International Flavors & Fragrances to create the exquisite, original scents. “Fragrance works like a time machine,” Clara says. ”It has the power to bring you back to a place, to someone you once loved.... Perfume is a souvenir, and Memo is its memory.”
The scents,18 in all, comprise three collections: Les Echappees, Cuirs Nomades, and Graines Vagabondes, launching at Bergdorf Goodman. They always begin with a landscape. “Some destinations call to us in our memories, and some in our dreams,” Clara says. “They could be places you have never been, places you feel you belong to.…Fragrance has kindled an excitement in me similar to that of a journey, a departure.” From their homes in Paris and Geneva, the Molloys travel constantly, and practically every trip inspires a new scent. “‘The journey is the destination’ is our motto,” she says with a smile.

Memo Paris photographer-at-large Guillaume Bonn's Instagram postcards from Kenya.

All images courtesy of Memo Paris.

The fragrance journey began for Clara at age four. “I saw an ad for Fidji, by Guy Laroche, and fell in love with it,” she says. By “it,” she means perfume in general. “Smelling, breathing in a scent, is accepting to leave a safety zone in search of new sensations and tying them to one’s unique experiences. It is about openness and abandonment.”
In 2006, she edited the book 22 Perfumers: A Creative Process, which profiled giants in the fragrance industry, among them Massenet. The experience ignited a desire to start her own perfume company, with Massenet as the nose. “Together, we try to translate our sensations and emotions through scents. We speak the same sensory language. We’re on a constant quest for beauty.”
Packaged in gorgeous heavy-glass bottles and named for exotic destinations around the world, the perfumes—the newest is called African Leather—are deeply original, mysterious, and evocative. Molloy’s favorite non-Memo scent expresses her approach perfectly: “The smell of the Parisian stones after the rain.” Looking forward to more Memo surprises come holiday.

Visit the site  : www.memofragrances.com/en/content/4-our-story

Why Drinking Wine Is Like Drinking Koala Pee

Mmm, crisp and fruity, subtle notes of blackberry with a tangy finish of…koala pee? Yes, oenophiles everywhere may be disgusted to learn that there is one component found in both fruitier-smelling wines and the urine of the native Australian herbivorous marsupial, the koala.

Discovered first in koala pee in 1975 and then later in white wine in 1998, the compound wine lactone (3a,4,5,7a-tetrahydro-3,6-dimethylbenzofuran-2(3H)-one) lends a woody or sweet nature to wine. No word yet of how it tastes in koala pee, though.

There are eight possible isomers – molecules with the same chemical formula but different structural arrangements – of wine lactone, but despite the name, only one (see pic) has been found in wine.

So before you throw out that glass of pinot noir in sheer disgust, structurally, you are not drinking koala pee. But fundamentally, you totally are drinking koala pee.

 


Why Drinking Wine Is Like Drinking Koala Pee

Neurogastronomy : The Science of Taste Perception

Imagine sitting down for a meal after a long day. You're craving delicious comfort food that can lift your spirits with one whiff lingering from the oven. You indulge in a meal that tastes wonderful and leaves you feeling satisfied. Except, instead of macaroni and cheese, you're eating boiled broccoli. And thanks to a new science, the broccoli-loather in you genuinely loves every single bite.

This new science, called neurogastronomy, merges the science and culinary worlds by studying the human brain and the behavior that influences how we experience eating and drinking. First conceived in 2006, the field has now evolved into its own area of learning that delves into the molecular biology of the olfactory receptors, the biochemistry of food preparation, and odor images and the brain flavor system. Essentially, neurogastronomy shakes up how we look at food and taste: Instead of investigating how researchers can alter the taste of food by re-engineering what we eat, this science concentrates on how we can re-wire the brain to perceive food differently. Translation: it's not about genetically modifying carrots to taste better; instead, it is about making our brains think carrots are delicious. But even that aforementioned instance is just one component in the broad and diverse academic specialty.

 Read the whole article by Susmita Baral : www.eater.com/2015/10/19/9553471/what-is-neurogastronomy