Dear Reader,

Long before I started writing The Perfumist of Paris I knew that Lakshmi’s sister Radha would elope with a Frenchman visiting Shimla, move to Paris, and thrive in the perfume industry. Working with fragrances was a natural fit for her. In India, she’d been surrounded by the heady scent of jasmine flowers in Lakshmi's hair, the delicious aromas of turmeric, cumin, ginger, and red chilis used to flavor curries, and the sharp notes of lime in nimbu pani, a refreshingly cool drink.

Like Radha, I’d also grown up with the myriad scents of India. Unlike Radha, I knew nothing about perfume. So I traveled to New York City, touring major perfume labs and interviewing master perfumers. They suggested I meet perfumers in Paris and off I went —c’est magnifique! Next stop: Grasse in southeastern France, where I visited compounders and a boutique perfume atelier. Finally, in Portugal, an octogenarian whose family had been in the business for centuries met me in Lisbon to inform my understanding of Radha’s world—the fragrance landscape of 1970s Paris.

What a ride! I now know how to throw the most basic perfume party, the recipe for which I also included in The Perfumist of Paris. More importantly, I met with extremely generous, kind, bright people passionate about their work—adorning our skin, our homes, and our whole environment with glorious, heavenly scents.

Enjoy!

Alka

Since Radha has roots in both the East and the West, it was hard for me to decide which recipes to include in The Perfumist of Paris. I could have shared the recipe for Coq au Vin or Sauteed Cod—the French know how to be delicate with fish dishes— or chicken steeped in rosemary and herbes de Provence, one of Pierre’s specialties. In the end, Eastern cuisine won out because it’s the most familiar to me. 

I chose an easy and beloved Indian dish called chole or chana —the Hindi words for chickpeas. I loved creating the scene in which Radha’s daughters are helping her make chole; I was re-enacting the times I helped my mother make this curry. Cooked alongside other ingredients and flavorful spices, this legume provides such a scrumptious, hearty meal that you won’t even know you’re eating something that’s good for you —fiber, nutrients, with few calories.

Feel free to improvise this recipe for chole: you can add another vegetable to the dish. Maybe you’re partial to red pepper or potatoes. Cube your favorite veggie and put it in before you add the chole. Perhaps you love peas. Go for it! The beans can be cooked in water, coconut milk. or chicken broth. Each will provide a different flavor—with coconut milk being the richest. I prefer chicken broth because, well, I like chicken, and you could also add cooked chicken to the recipe!

Whatever you decide to do, there is no better garnish than fresh cilantro leaves. We experience the flavor of food not only through our noses —I learned that while researching The Perfumist of Paris—but also with our eyes. And the bright green fan of cilantro leaves contrasts so beautifully with the orange-yellow curry. 

Gulkand, or rose petal jam, is another recipe I wanted to share with you. In India, roses aren’t just harvested for their essential oil, their petals make the most fragrant jam. My family would devour this jam in one day—and here my mother had spent several days making it! We didn’t even put gulkand on ice cream—we ate spoonfuls right out of the jar. See if you don’t do the same!