Archivi tag: spices

In English, Materia Viva in English

Sichuan Pepper – The New Issue of Materia Viva, the Aromatic Ezine n.4

Materia Viva is a continuing work dedicated to aromatic raw materials: resins, plants, woods, essences, balsams, flowers, seeds, roots.

It comes to life from the interweaving of scent, word, image, and living inquiry. Each material is explored not only for what it does, but for what it carries with it: its history, the place it comes from, the landscape that generates it, the gesture that makes it symbolic, the way it inhabits the world.

It is a notebook — both cultural and sensory, an aromatic e-zine: it traces each material back to its source, crossing lands, customs, trade routes, archives, figures, and sudden intuitions.

A resin, a wood, a flower, an essence become the heart of a research: a path is traced, clues are gathered, the scent is listened to, images are pursued, a form is allowed to surface.

Part of this work settles into texts and digital publications. Part becomes original artwork with fine art printing.

The latest issue is dedicated to Green Sichuan Pepper (Zanthoxylum armatum). Here is an excerpt:

I smell the green Sichuan pepper and something happens that is not yet scent. There is a snappy citrus note, a freshness that speaks of lime and broken leaf, but underneath another promise is already running: that of a vibration. Because this is a material that above all makes things vibrate, and it does so in a way that almost makes you want to laugh — a light, fizzing, surprised tingling.

If you would like to read Materia Viva, contact us via the WhatsApp button on the site to request a free copy. Read more about Materia Viva, or continue to the next issue: Camellia japonica.

Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, In English, Spice routes

Ginger power and vitality

Ginger and chocolate are a beautiful synergy. The aroma of ginger is pungent, yet it carries a smooth, crisp note that makes it so appealing. It brings a sense of warm vitality, and beside chocolate it forms a winning pair.

In Ayurveda ginger is called vishwabhesaj, universal medicine, and tradition prepares it in many forms: powdered, fresh, as an essential oil, and it appears in many winter herbal teas. Two areas belong to it above all: digestion and the breath. Tradition also values its power against damp, which is why it has long accompanied the cold, wet months.

A simple ginger and lemon tea brings warmth, relief and a good digestion. Its scent has a gift of its own, because even a breath of it helps in the moments when something needs digesting, perhaps in the figurative sense too.

In the diffuser, ginger finds natural companions in the citrus family: lemon, sweet orange, green mandarin. Citrus fruits are delicious in diffusion and give ginger a bright, sunny side. Cinnamon leaf adds a spicier, rounder tone, for an air that smells of winter kitchens.

Other spices are also synergistic, and the next articles travel further along their routes (if you like spices, discover Materia viva, the aromatic ezine here).

Ginger is a plant for cold days: a slice in hot water with lemon, a diffuser scented with ginger and orange in the evening, a square of dark chocolate with a touch of fresh ginger beside a cup of tea. Small gestures, and the house turns warm.