The flavorists don't necessarily want to replicate the aroma. For example, if a fruit has a strong sulfur taste, they may try to eliminate that while preserving desirable characteristics.
[...] "When you're creating a flavor it's not a photograph," [Dawn] Streich said. "It's like an artists' rendition of what they see."
— From Looking for a Lemon 'Wow' -- International flavorists converge on UCR citrus groves at The Press-Enterprise, about a group of Givaudan flavorists smelling and tasting citrus at a grove owned by the University of California, Riverside.
I always feel ambivalent about lemon. I love cooking with the juice and zest, but any fragrance-wise that is too lemony makes me feel like someone's well-cared-for mahogany dining room set.
I only had time to skim, but that was a great article.
Existentialist: I feel the same way, somewhat, but I recently tried Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche and was bowled over by the wonderful lemon note, even though that was only part of the whole. The lemon definitely stood out, though, with no hint of “Pledge.”
Reposted for Anya:
On March 9, 2009 Anya said:
UCRiverside, my alma mater! It's where I took many classes studying citrus, as they have 1200 varieties there. Tasting lab was always a blast. Memories – when I first got Kaufman's book Perfume and started to study, where the guys who ran the bookstore gave me their old perfume salesmen sample cases (they were retired), where I plundered the Bouquet des Fleurs trees to make neroli tincture. The source of inspiration for my RiverCali perfume.
I can't believe Givaudan only discovered this treasure trove in 2006!
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Lots of people feel that way. I think the next generation won't have the same problem — cleaners now come in every flavor, right? So lemon should be freed from it's burden 😉
I found it very interesting…not least because I read about perfumers so much more often than flavorists.
A, sounds like it was a fun place to go to school. I wish someone would capture UCSD in fragrance…ocean air & eucalyptus trees. Wonderful smells, & I miss it.
Robin –
Didn't you post an article about some Ivy League schools creating their own fragrances?
I live not too far from the citrus groves at UCR….in fact, last night I got my first wonderful whiff of the blossoming orange trees….
Marko
Close, but it is an outside company making college scents:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2008/12/9/4013629.html
I love the smell of citrus trees — it's one of the things I really miss from southern CA.
And it's interesting, when I am cooking or baking with actual lemons, using the juice or zest, I really don't think about Pledge, so why is it that in fragrances, it's inescapable? Rhetorical question – must be some deep-seated trauma associated with being forced to dust the furniture as a small child.