Of “Nose” and “Notes” – An Unexpected Enlightenment at Lorena’s Restaurant

  Cinnamon-Apple Scones for Christin this morning

Last Friday night I had dinner at Lorena’s in Maplewood, NJ with my husband.  Throughout my time there, I watched a man, dining alone, with a bottle of red wine.  It fascinated me that, as he waited for his meal and then throughout, he picked up his wine glass, swirled it around, sniffed its contents and then determinedly, placed the glass back down on the table, without taking a sip.  I’d say, he did this about 6 as many times as he did take a sip.  It was as if he was waiting for the exact right instant to experience each and every drop of that bottle.  (And so, I decided, wow, I actually don’t know anything about drinking wine –  he definitely understands the power of his nose a heck of a lot more than I do -and, much more about wine, as well.)  What I didn’t realize until much later was that he was illustrating a well-learned ritual – engaging the power of his nose first, and his palate second, and then, experiencing all the sensory range of his nose, again, in essence a three-step process!  This is what we can and should do????  Do we??? (So much for rushing through meals!)   It wasn’t until much later (today) that I more fully realized what was going on there.  Now I wish I could have had a conversation with him.

In the Food and Wine worlds, I am always hearing people discussing “nose” and “notes”.  What exactly do they mean, and what are their significance?  And, further, everyone in the food world is always talking about the importance of “hitting your palate”.  Off on another linear exploration……..

Two important facts here:

• the human tongue is limited to the “primary tastes perceived by taste receptors on the tongue – acidity, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness and savoriness”.  And, “the wide array of fruit, earthy, floral, herbal, mineral and woodsy flavors are actually perceived by your olfactory bulb” (courtesy Wikipedia), which control your sense of smell.
•  your Olfactory Bulb is a “structure located in the forebrain of vertebrates (thank goodness we are vertebrates!!!!) that receives neural input about odors detected by cells in the nasal cavity” (courtesy Brittanica.com).  And, WOW, thank goodness for that.  Why?

I confess, I never internalized the considerable limitations of the palate and the more substantive and  complex power of your nose, and in fact, the sequencing of events which determine your responses to and enjoyment of food and drink!!

If you think about it, so many creatures navigate and survive on the power of their sense of smell – so, I guess I have been considerably unintuitive and unappreciative when it comes to this fact.  I will now appreciate my nose much more every day………. I actually think this is pretty interesting stuff.

Hmmm…… consider the mega-importance of this –  this idea applies to the myriad of full-frontal and background flavors which are subtly observed, in food and wine, millions and millions of times in your lifetime, and indeed, create the overall impact for us, of everything we eat and drink.  And so, what in fact this man was doing was precisely controlling, by virtue of his sense of smell, the timing of each and every sip of that wine’s hitting his palate, and then, again, returning to the power of his olfactory senses, to precisely experience the subtleties of his glass.  I confess that, on a relative basis, I am rushing through each and every meal of my life and missing so many great sensations.  (So motto of the day:  Slow Down.)

We all know about the concept of “flavor notes” – some are naturally occurring and some are creatively added into recipes to enhance and allow for experiencing a melange of flavors, but at different instants on the palate, AND, in the overall senory experience of your food and drink intake.  Some are bold and some are subtle.  Some are intermediary and each occurs at a different instant of perception. There are diagrams of your tongue which define where and when you “sense” these things.

And, I think there are definitely times when we want a single flavor note – consider when you eat a great steak.  For me, I just want the unadulterated, unencumbered flavor of that meat, perfectly grilled and sensitively seasoned, only with a small amount of salt and pepper.  (Well sometimes I like a nice Bernaise on a Filet Mignon.)  But, indeed, there are some foods to be played with and some, not.

I am no neuroscientist and so I will not attempt any further analytical rambling on this point – but you get the picture.

In the wine world, people are always talking about “notes”.  There are chocolate notes, plum notes, peach notes, cherry notes, floral notes, grassy notes, etc.  And, wines express the notes of their aging process as well – oak vs no-oak.

In the honey world, one of my most current obsessions (please join an organization in support of “The Pollinators”) notes are important too.  Christin is eating some of her Estate Heather Honey from Wales this morning.  This honey has powerful notes, as you all know by now.   And so the story goes……foods express notes, some a wider array than others.  Honeys express the “notes” of the flowers which those wonderful bees have visited!

Ok, so onward with this.  I have not been baking as often as usual lately.  In fact, due to my overindulgences in Paris, I have been on a grain and sugar-free diet for 21 days now.  But this morning, I decided to get in the kitchen and make something.  I made the Cinnamon-Apple Scones pictured above.

At the outset, I thought about the flavor notes I wanted.  I had two Granny Smith apples in the house.  But, as I have learned in my meager “career” in the kitchen, a combination of flavor notes here is often more effective.  I actually learned a lot about this from Ina Garten – she puts orange and lemon zests into her Roasted Pear and Applesauce and also into her apple pie.   What should I add into this scone batter to enhance this final outcome?  I decided on cinnamon and nutmeg, but in different “expressions” and some under “notes” of orange – not highly original, but should be effective, I said to myself.

Recipe invention is a labor of love, and of trial and error.  We cooks do this all the time.  Add some of this, more of that – next time start over……..

And so, I wound up with this:

CINNAMON-APPLE SCONES

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

zest of 1/2 orange

2 granny smith apples, peeled and grated with a squeeze of lemon juice to retard browing

egg wash and turbinado sugar for brushing and sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425F.  In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Grate the two apples on a box grater and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over to retard browning.  Zest one half of an orange over the apples and toss.

Add the cubed butter into the processor bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal – with still some small chunks of butter evident.  Remove the mixture to a wide, shallow bowl.  Working with a plastic dough scraper, toss the apples into the dry ingredient-butter mixture, mixing only until distributed.  Pour the buttermilk over and toss again until the dough begins to come together.  Add a touch more buttermilk, if needed.  When the dough is together enough to pick up in your hands, move it to a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.  Pat it out into an 8″ round.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle turbinado sugar over.  Cut into 8 wedges with a bench scraper.  Bake for 20 minutes or until scones are well-browned, turning the baking sheet halfway through.  When almost done (firm to touch in center), separate each wedge gently with a serrated knife and return to oven to ensure centers are fully baked.  Serve immediately.  I’d definitely drizzle these with honey – with a very light hand –  for an extra floral note!  But only the moment before serving.

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These scones smelled very good, had good loft and a rustic “character”  –  but went off to work with Christin.  I may have “over-expressed” the cinnamon a bit in this experiment.  I will be anxious to hear what she says.

Bottom line is, I used a subtle bit of orange to enhance the apple, a bit of nutmeg to counter-balance the cinnamon and buttermilk to add a undertone of tang into the batter that heavy cream does not.   Make sense?

Tomorrow is another day, and another experiment……….  Have a “bee-utiful day!  (I’m keeping that to remind me of the plight of the bees)