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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 flavour 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 flavours.
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
writer based in Brussels, Belgium. Her culinary travel book about the
Dordogne region of France will be released by Running Press in April
2010. www.abroadinbelgium.com
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