Toutes les roses se ressemblent… vraiment ?
Halfeti, joyau de la couronne turque. Un merveilleux mélange d’influences byzantines, arméniennes, égyptiennes et ottomanes. Une ville très tôt tournée vers le commerce international.
Spices and soft leathers. Cloth and coffee. Some of the most desirable treasures in the world are found where the continents of Europe and Asia meet. Of all the commodities traded in and around the town of Halfeti, the most coveted was the black rose. La plus rare des fleurs, originaire des rives toutes proches de l’Euphrate. The roses bloom only once a year, displaying their petals of darkest red. It’s said to be the combination of terroir and the pH of the river that makes the roses appear soft black in the hot summer sun.
News of this fabled black rose travelled fast across the seas, and a quest for the truth began. On their journey of olfactive discovery, travellers became enamoured with the unusual skylines of Halfeti, dominated by domes and minarets, and the grand kasbahs confusing to even the most intrepid explorers. These emporia emanated exotic sounds, sights and scents. The tale of a rare flower had sparked curiosity for more. The cogs were turning. A fragrant icon was to be born.
A trip to the bazaar exposed these explorers to Levantine spices – cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron. Dans la médina, elles formeraient de hauts cônes colorés. À l’époque, le commerce n’avait pas lieu à grande échelle ; de petites quantités suffisaient. Une petite pincée était plus qu’assez pour suggérer un peu de mysticisme oriental. With oil extracted from the rose petals, the notes of Halfeti were beginning to sing.
Notre voyage parfumé à travers le golfe persique continue… Relaxons-nous dans un air chargé de patchouli fumé, répondant à une séduisante base musquée de résines, d’oud et d’ambre. Dans toute sa subtilité, l’oud se mêle à la douceur veloutée du cèdre et du bois de santal. Smelling these final notes is akin to watching glowing embers of firewood, or seeing the sunset on the Turkish coast as ships head back to England with their precious cargo.
An icon was born.