A Weird Find

Posse!  I have A Weird Find for you (though I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you already know about it).

So.  Y’all know I cook – a lot.  And I really enjoy cooking ‘ethnic’ dishes, particularly Asian-inspired foods.  So I spend a LOT of time at the (aptly named) Asian Market, looking around for interesting stuff to try.  It’s where I found my beloved Megachef Oyster Sauce (a hit) and Dragonfly Pineapple Essence (a miss – smells vaguely of pineapple and tastes completely like a can.  Not even a can of pineapple.  Just a can.).  This past week I was rootling around in the Market and found this:

It was $1.69 so I figured (insert the shrug).  Brought it home and… huh.  Okay, so here’s my review of it… mostly as a scent.  As a scent?  It’s phenomenal!  Now… it’s not Uncle Serge’s A La Nuit (more’s the pity as that one costs the Earth) and it lasts about 20… no.. ten minutes.  Maybe.  But it’s the perfect Jasmine for a few minutes in the bathroom, right after a hot shower.  Here’s the thing:  I’ve long had a love/hate relationship with jasmine in perfume, mostly because most of the perfumes I love upon application tend to devolve into a musk base that is a no-go for me and my simple self.  Take Drama Nuui from Pierre Guillaume – omg!  I remember the first spritz!  Transported to a garden full of night blooming jasmine and slightly bitter green, I nearly swooned with delight.  Bought a bottle RIGHT THEN!  I should’ve waited.  Becauuuse… a few hours later (M. Guillaume uses quality ingredients so longevity is..long) I noticed this ‘note’ that, on me, did not play with the jasmine the way I wanted it to (to quote Sheldon Cooper ‘they were having fun wrong‘).  Took me quite awhile  (and several confused-to-unhappy wearings) to realize it was that musk base that was harshing my garden.  Sadly, I had to rehome my darling Drama.  Another, the vaunted Floris’s Jasmine?  was just TOO MUCH JASMINE, with that funky blue cheese note that occurs naturally but is a whole lotta! coming out of the bottle.   I was bereft (for a minute – luckily there is a LOT of perfume out there and I am a magpie).. and then March introduced me to the new Jo Malone Jasmine Sambac and Marigold, which is faaabulous.  And this weird little flower essence has that same vibe as the Malone in a verrry cheap and cheerful way.  It gives the impression of jasmine (it’s a flavor essence, crafted of artificial jasmine, which is why it’s $1.69. Obviously.) without the financial or time commitment of an actual quality perfume.  Oddly enough, despite cooking alladetime and going Asian in 90% of my meals I hadn’t any idea that jasmine was used in flavoring.  Which is weird (that I didn’t know) because I use lime zest in everything and my absolute favorite cold dessert is lemon ice and the best lemon ice (from Graham’s Chocolates in Geneva IL) has a lovely, faint floral note that I always equate with violets (though it’s the hint of lemon blossom in the rind, don’tchaknow) .  But a bit of research resulted in now knowing that jasmine is used (very sparingly) in all sorts of Asian desserts.  Huh.

I love how this smells and for $1.69  I can happily use it to mop the floors!  I’ll stick with Mme Malone and Uncle Serge for actual perfume, though.

Have any of you ever tried floral food essences in food?  As perfume? Do you love it? Hate it?  Do tell!