In the Scent of Cinnamon, a Whiff of Medieval Humoral Theory

Purple bougainvillea flowers hung thick and rope-like over the sand-colored walls, their little white hearts nearly pulsating in the blazing noon heat of Rabat, Morocco. The door of The English Bookshop stood half-opened. The stern English proprietor stood behind the counter, his thin pale fingers reaching into scuffed cardboard boxes, filled with the newest shipment of books … More In the Scent of Cinnamon, a Whiff of Medieval Humoral Theory

The Provençal Thirteen: Fennel- and Cumin-Scented Sablés

In France, you’ll find sablĂ©s,  buttery cookies that originated in Normandy. (You know they had all that butter to get rid of there.) Most sablĂ©s are sweet. But in Provence, for the famous Thirteen Desserts of Christmas Eve, cooks prefer savory little disks perfumed with fennel and cumin. Cumin? How did cumin get into mix? … More The Provençal Thirteen: Fennel- and Cumin-Scented SablĂ©s