The Taste of Scent

By Kimberley Lovato

It is said that seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell. Scent is also linked to memory. To confirm this, one need only catch a whisper of a favorite perfume to be transported instantaneously to a particular moment in time. It is precisely this emotional voyage that has Dordogne born and bred (and quintessentially French) ice cream maker Roland Manouvrier scheming up new and unorthodox flavors, appropriately called parfums in French, like goat cheese, parmesan, Szechwan pepper, foie gras and tomato-basil, to name only a few.

“I like the idea of people responding to a specific flavor in an emotional or sensual way,” says Roland.

We would never have found Roland on our own, but after a delicious meal at La Bruceliere restaurant in Issigeac, France, the talented young chef Nicolas De Visch implored us to taste ‘something incredible’. One by one we dug our tiny spoons into a tub of white creamy ice cream and one by one we raised our eyebrows in surprise as the flavor hit our tongues. It was not the coconut, vanilla or other sweet sensation we expected, but something rather different and surprisingly pleasing---goat cheese. We knew we had to meet the creator. A phone number from Nicolas, a map and a Mobile phone with little battery power left, we set out on the 2-hour drive to Saint Geniès, a tiny town not far from Sarlat.

Roland met us wearing, no joke, a lab coat and a large plastic cap set askew over his thick mop of dark hair. Looking very much the part of mad scientist, he greeted us with a handshake and a cone full of sweet and smooth mandarin sorbet. It couldn’t have tasted and smelled better if we had plucked it from a tree. We looked around for the smoking beakers and a bubbling cauldron but all we saw was a spotless, stainless steel kitchen.

This native of St. Léon sur Vézère draws his inspiration from the perfume makers of Paris in the middle-ages who could incite reactions to specific scents. Roland’s connection to food started closer to home in his mother’s kitchen where he says she cooked “with local ingredients and a lot of emotion.”

Roland says he admires modern chefs who exploit the intelligent side of our palettes to create a sensory experience. He refers to the famous Spanish restaurant El Bulli as an example where chef Ferran Adrià spends 6-months cooking out of the ordinary cuisine in his Costa Brava kitchen, and the other part of the year in his Barcelona laboratory cooking up new flavors.

Standing in Roland’s office, he identifies the brand of the perfume we are wearing, then asks if we have read Patrick Süskind’s novel ‘Perfume’ in which the main character creates the ultimate scent (made from beautiful women) to achieve certain reactions.

“I thought, why not adapt this concept to ice cream,” he says.

Remarkable is that his creations reach beyond just our taste buds. His melding of color, smell and texture is nothing short of alchemy, and Roland believes this sensory fusion is what lets people experience food, rather than just taste it. He uses the freshest ingredients, growing much of them himself, and admits to eating his own ice cream and sorbet, but his preferred flavour depends on his mood or even the weather. This is part of the reason Roland doesn’t write his recipes down.

Cafe with a view at Gardens of Marqueyssac

“To find the right balance between taste and texture is not exact. It is a reaction that depends on many influences.”

I guess we can’t expect a magician to reveal all his secrets.

Sadly for us foodies, Roland’s magical concoctions are not sold to the general public. You’ll only find his ice cream at restaurants around the Perigord, like we did at La Bruceliere. We also happened upon it at the Gardens of Marqueyssac, near Chateau Beynac. Our fingers are crossed he opens up a shop of his own soon.

Often we take for granted the power of our senses but in the little town of St. Geniès, France an innovative alchemist is working hard to make sure we don’t. Roland’s ability to conjure up flavour that tastes like fragrance is magical. The fact his creations look good and feel equally as sinful in our mouths is the icing, or shall we say the ice cream, on the cake.

Kimberley Lovato is a freelance travel writer eating her way through Europe.
See more articles, and excerpts from her soon to be released book at: www.abroadinbelgium.com