Inside the Olfactory Mind of Trygve Harris

Trygve Harris is the owner of Enfleurage, a haven for natural perfumers and fragrance enthusiasts. The store specializes in essential oils, frankincense, agarwood (oudh) and aromatic materials from around the world. Ms. Harris divides her time between New York City and a home in Salalah, Oman. She travels frequently, visiting suppliers in locations where ingredients are cultivated, harvested and distilled.

1.  What does your sense of smell mean to you?

It means so much that I don’t really think about it. It’s a way of perceiving the world and adds dimension, texture, resonance and meaning in the same way that sound and vision do. It’s part of the tapestry of perception. If I try to imagine existing without my sense of smell, the world would appear flat, colorless, uninspired and not at all interesting. It would be like television which doesn’t engage me at all. Without a sense of smell I imagine life to be more watched than lived.

2.  What are some of your strongest scent memories?

The best one is that smell you get in the San Fernando Valley in the late afternoon and early evening, with the sprinklers on everywhere and the water evaporating on the driveways. I just love that and I rarely get to smell it now. It even had a little audio soundtrack; the tick-tick-tick of the sprinklers.

Gasoline, of course, and junkyards! I loved those. There were a bunch of really cool giant junkyards in southern Los Angeles County that we’d drive past whenever we went somewhere, with crushed cars by the hundreds. You could smell the fierceness and violence of all those destroyed automobiles and there was an undertone of oil refinery that accompanied it. I can’t remember where the refinery was except that it was near the junkyards.

When I was very young we had a house in Palm Springs, in the Movie Colony, where we would go on weekends. The way it smelled when we arrived was unforgettable: the dry crisp desert air, the oleanders, the baked clay and stone outside, the breath-holding expectation and stuffiness of the house, the way the shag carpet and rice paper doors were impregnated with something of the recesses of earth, the huge beetles that swarmed out of the drains when you opened the taps, and the metallic smell of the water. All of these sensations combined could be described as the smell of the California desert.

When I was growing up my mother wore Chanel N°5 but that’s strange for me because what I see today on the duty free shelf is not the Chanel N°5 I remember. My father always wore wonderful cologne but I have no idea what it was named. I also recall the smell of cigarettes because both of my parents smoked Camel® non-filters. There are some cooking smells: sopa de fideo, marinara sauce, Bertolli® olive oil, garlic and tomatoes.
 

Oh, and brush fires. It must have been 1968 or so and the whole San Fernando Valley was burning. It was the Chatsworth Fire. There was so much smoke it was hard to breathe and you could see flames in every direction tearing up the hills. You could hear the roar and smell chaparral, eucalyptus, sage and whole hills erupting. Then there’s Agree® shampoo. The first guy I lost my mind over used it. That formula is being used by another company today, and I don’t know which company or what it’s used in, but it’s sold in Salalah. Occasionally I get a whiff and nearly give myself whiplash. 

3.  What are some of your favorite smells (things in nature, cooking &/or your environment)?

Mysore sandalwood has no peer in this world; glorious. My house! I love the way my house smells! I burn a lot of a bakhoor, Oudh Mubakhar from Ajmal, as well as agarwood (oudh) and frankincense; that’s an ever-present undertone that has seeped into the porous material of my house. I really love the smells of the structure itself, particularly of my home in Salalah. I can’t tell you what it is exactly, other than the way my house smells and I don’t want to know, actually. It might be something I’m better off not knowing.

I love the way fires smell in the fall. Even in Salalah, which really has no fall, you can still smell these lovely wood fires. I love flowers, of course: acacia, jasmine, tuberose, quisqualis, citrus blossoms and roses (those crazy powdery red ones in Salalah). While I love the smells of the tropics in general, wet and heavily loaded, I am excited and thrilled by drier places: clean desert air and sand, sagebrush and chaparral, wild mountain herbs and valleys, the Santa Ana winds, the Salalah winter wind. I also love how it smells when someone I love is cooking for me; never mind what they’re cooking. A large part of what I love is how an intention smells. There’s also the impression that smells make. The sea smells like calm. (I love the smell of the sea and am partial to the Pacific and Indian Ocean.) Then there is the smell of home; home smells like everything’s going to be all right.

4.  Do you have any favorite smells that are considered strange?

I like the smell of gasoline and used to think that was strange, but many people like it. I like the smell of the steam that comes out of manhole covers in New York City. It’s stronger in the summer, and it probably smells like crap, but I love it. I also like the way the Doha Airport smells. Many people would consider my love of oudh strange. Let’s face it: its animal, sex, shit and a whole host of unnamed emotions right up in your face. I assume that most people hate it, unless they're aroma geeks or Arabs. That's the big bonus of living in the Middle East—everyone loves oudh.

5.  Describe one or more of your favorite cooking smells.

Vanilla! Although I am not a baker, it’s exciting for me to smell it; it’s warm and cozy yet has some kind of erotic promise. It has a kind of central bloom and generates a living heat. It’s soft and very nurturing. There is much I don’t understand about vanilla and I am ready to find out more about it. Coffee, of course, a smell so intractable that a day without it beckons cold, gray and bleak. I can remember all the days of my life when coffee did not materialize.

6.  What smells do you most dislike?

It’s a horrible thing to think about! Decay is what I most dislike. Between 1996 and 1997 my old Jones Street store in New York City was situated in a building with a terrible rat problem. Even though the store was sealed and we didn’t get rats inside, they died everywhere: in the hallways, in the basement, in front of the store, on the steps—everywhere. The superintendent didn’t clean up the mess until the carcasses were in an advanced state of decay. As a result, I am better versed in death smells than I want to be. I can tell how long rats have been dead and how the smell changes when they start to liquefy in the summer heat. I used to patrol the outside of the store with a super-sized spray bottle of water and peppermint oil, and ambush the (living) rats with it. I am hyper-attuned to death smells and will catch the tiniest whiff of them as I walk through any city and am usually the first (and sometimes only one) to notice them. Fermenting garbage, like the kind you find in New York or Mumbai, has this decay smell too.

I also dislike the smell of processed food like McDonald’s®. Getting into the elevator with someone who has a bag of that makes me gag; it’s hideous. Processed cheese, old frying oil, margarine, there are bunch of chemicals that go into corporate food and if you can’t smell them as you’re eating them, you can sure smell them coming out of your pores later. When I was a kid I loved McDonald’s® and Doritos® and all that stuff as much as the next kid, but I think that my body just rebelled on an organic level. Processed food doesn’t smell like food, it smells ugly. It smells like chaos.

The way the World Trade Center smelled as it burned was horrible: unknowable plastics, molten steel and barbecued flesh. There was an acridity that wove in and out of the already hideous mix of melting things you were never supposed to smell burning, and then the burnt flesh poked through every so often, making its point again and again. The visuals went along with it; little green fires, melted building faces, a shower of unknown lethal flakes—everything.

7.  What smell did you first dislike, but learned to love?

It was the smell of my dojang. When I first started martial arts I can’t say that I hated the smell of my school, but it was a little strong. It smelled like a gym; something I despise the smell of. It quickly became a smell of home, escape and serenity. Even the locker room was wonderful, although it was rarely cleaned and the showers were moldy and some people just left their uniforms there for weeks. When I entered that front door it was like sinking into a bed of bliss. Objectively speaking, I knew from the reaction of my friends (who I would force to come and visit) that the smell there never actually improved.

8.  What mundane smells inspire you?

 

Cedar as in cedar pencils; there’s a quick flash of wanting to start something fresh. The aroma of coffee inspires me too, though there is nothing mundane about that smell. Citrus blossoms awaken my senses, but they don’t motivate me in the direction of starting a project or working, they affect me in a more languid and sensual way.

9.  What scent never fails to take you back in time and why?

I love the way horses smell. Even though I grew up in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, both of those neighborhoods had horses. I had my own horse for some time when I was 10 or so. I always think of him and the time we spent ambling in the foothills whenever I smell horses. We were both babies then so our relationship was rather stormy, but we lived though it and enjoyed our times together, at least I know I did.

10.  What scents do you associate with memories of loved ones?

That’s interesting to think about. I started out digging through my familial past, but that’s not the only place to find memories of loved ones. I’ll take “loved ones” in another sense. Everyone has their own scent, as we all know. Even though I think many, if not most people are driven by this, my entire love life has been run by my sense of smell. It’s not only chemistry. I have known a few men whose smell was enough to make me behave in ways I still can’t believe. So, if I get a whiff of something like that smell, something similar, then it’s like a whole china cabinet has crashed on my head.

Those smells are beyond explanation. They are the ones you just react to, the ones that make your hair stand on end, and get your heart racing and your blood rushing like thunder. Those are the smells you can’t even talk about, but they are terrifying and addictive and delicious and you can take a bath in them. Smells like this feel like plugging yourself into a live socket. When they disappear from your life it’s like someone has taken away your bones; you have nothing to stand with, no support and are missing something integral.

11.  What fragrance(s) remind you of growing up?

A whole stream of things; chlorine, swimming pools in the sun, water splashing out on the hot pavement, Camel® cigarette smoke, instant coffee, fried potatoes in the morning, gasoline, my mother’s skin, cut grass, Primo® Incense, davana flower, lotus flower, Indian perfume oils you find in head shops, pot, cinnamon toast and Chanel N°5 from Paris.

12.  What fragrance(s) remind you of the places you visited on vacation?

The scent of pikake and tuberose flowers, night blooming jasmine, the Pacific Ocean, and humid Hawaiian breezes with indecipherable sweet floral aromas racing through them are all reminiscent of vacation. My family visited Hawaii a few times when I was a kid. Later, I went to school on the Big Island for a short time. That’s where these olfactory memories come from.

My father’s best friend was a French sports writer and we visited him at his farmhouse in Moissac, in the south of France. The hotel where we stayed (an old mill) made excellent croissants and hot chocolate in the mornings. The dry fields of late summer, ripe plums and roasting lamb. Everything was so fresh, so tempting, so sensual and so heady: the landscape, the roasting lamb, the salads, the olives and the vinegar; the smells wafting through the farmhouse “Fabel,” the smell of the river Tarn which ran past the hotel—all of it.

We went to Las Vegas quite a bit as my father worked there often. Remember, these were the days when Las Vegas was not a “family” or “shopping” destination. In the late 60’s and 70’s it was still a gambling and entertainment destination for adults. We weren’t even allowed in the casinos except to pass though. It was the Circus Circus for us! I remember the smell of stale cigarettes, coins and spilled drinks in the casinos. In fact, the casino cocktail of smells is actually one of my favorites. It smells like a mixture of anticipation, hope and disappointment for sure. It’s so intense! The blip-blop-ping of sirens and bells and the little flashing lights added a great sub-soundtrack to the experience.

13.  Describe a piece of sensory literature that is very magical for you.

That would have to be Thousand Nights and One Night. In 1989 I bought the 4-volume set of the Mardrus and Mathers translation in Cairo. It’s the only book of its kind I’ve ever come across. I suspect that has a lot to do with my attraction to the Middle East. You would not believe the utter delicious decadence and lascivious sensuality, a complete merging of sexual delights, exquisite perfumes, delicious foods, labyrinthine deceit, Byzantine plotting, true love, thrilling adventures—and it  never lets up! Each story is a sumptuous feast that excites and delights every desire you never knew you had. These are not the pale and simple versions of Scheherazade, Sinbad, Aladdin, Harun al-Rashid and Ali Baba we are familiar with; they are huge and brilliant. It is totally worth seeking out.

Notes:

Enfleurage is located at 237 West 13th Street,  New York, New York 10011. To call the store phone: 212-691-1610 / 888-387-0300. Enfleurage is open from 12-8, Monday thru Saturday and 12-6 on Sunday.

Fans of Agree® Shampoo had a Facebook page titled "Remembering Agree® Shampoo from the 1980's: We Want it Back!"  Its not uncommon to find this kind of passion when it comes to the sense of smell.

Photo Credits:
Photo of Trygve Harris and a marigold wallah among the flowers. Rights reserved by Trygve Harris. Used with permission.

Photo of crushed cars by Chris Jordan. Licensed under Creative Commons. Some rights reserved. Please visit his website; the images are powerful.

Photo of white oleander bud by Joaquim Alves Gaspar. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Photo of Audrey Tatou asleep in a train car with the shadow of Chanel N°5 on the wall by Chanel.

Photo of brush fire from the Los Angeles Fire Department's Brush Clearance Unit.  

Photo of Moroccan incense bowl by Michelle Krell Kydd. All rights reserved.

Photo of coffee beans by Mark Sweep. Public Domain. Creative Commons.

Photo of steaming manhole cover by Lisa Lubin. Licensed under Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.

Photo of Oman Desert Rose (OAenium obesum) by Ross Hayden. All rights reserved.

Photo of dead rat by Box Chain. Licensed under Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.

Photo at the World Trade Center on 9/11 by U.S. Navy Photo by Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres. Public domain.

Photo of dojang by Scott Feldstein. Licensed under Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.

Photo of orange blossom by Ellen Levy Finch. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Cedar pencil form Pencil Revolution (one of the coolest pencil blogs on the web!).

Photo of horses from the U.S. Government. Public domain.

Photo of cinnamon toast from Little House in the Suburbs, copyright Deanna Caswell. Her blog post is charming and memorable.

Photo of home fries from The French Fry Diaries.  Some rights reserved.

Photo of night blooming jasmine by Asit K. Ghosh. Licenced under Creative Commons.

Photo of Gorges du Tarn by Benh Lieu Song. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Photo of Circus Circus Hotel Casino by D. Sharon Pruitt. Some rights reserved.

Photo of Scheherazade Arabian Nights by Kay Nielsen. Public domain. More of this artists beautiful images are available for viewing on Artsy Craftsy.

Purple Potato Pirate Pie

I have a confession to make; I'm related to William "Captain" Kidd by marriage. This fact has been a source of amusement for friends and new acquaintances, as well as polite assertions of innocence ("he was framed") by family members. It's a fact that intrigues me as much as the tale my Aunt Jean used to tell of my paternal great grandmother who was known for dispensing wisdom and arranging marriages in a small Polish town. 

Sometimes family stories have a way of getting into what you eat. Though I don't have recipes from my great grandmother (Edouard De Pomiane's "The Jews of Poland: Recollections and Recipes" might offer a clue) it's easy to find out what European pirates enjoyed as a result of their seafaring ways. Salamagundi—a hodgepodge of chopped meat, anchovies, onions, eggs, vinegar, oil and spices—is well known. Dessert is another story though honey cake seems to show up occasionally and makes sense when one thinks of honey's ability to preserve food when combined with spices.

The immediate thought that comes to mind for most people considering the foodways of pirates is what the scallywags drank. Rum was extremely popular, though beer, grog, sherry, brandy and port are other documented favorites. Since I am a Kydd by marriage (K"y"dd when the family moved from Scotland to England) and pirates were known to travel and trade in spices, I've decided to use dark rum, dark muscovado sugar and a spice mixture of my own creation to make a decadent sweet potato pie. Though my connection to Captain Kidd is tenuous at best, I think he'd enjoy the rich color of the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato and relish each bite as he would his treasured drink.

Purple Potato Pirate Pie

Recipe by Michelle Krell Kydd

Yield: Two Pies

Ingredients:

·      4 cups Stokes® Purple Sweet Potatoes (baked, cooled and mashed with a ricer)

·      1 cup India Tree® Dark Muscovado Sugar (firmly packed, can use brown sugar if not available)

·      1 cup light coconut milk

·      4 tbsp. dark rum*

·      2 tsp. Mexican vanilla extract

·      4 large omega-3 eggs

·      4 tbsp. cornstarch

·      2 tsp. ground China cassia cinnamon

·      1 tsp. ground ginger

·      1 tsp. ground mace

·      ½ tsp. ground allspice

·      ½ tsp. ground cloves

·      1 tsp. non-iodized sea salt

·      (2) Arrowhead Mills® prepared 9-inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Instructions:

Preparing the Potatoes

·      The day before you make the pie prepare 5 medium Stokes® Purple Sweet Potatoes for baking.

·      Preheat oven to 400F.

·      Gently rinse each potato using your fingers to rub off any surface dirt. Pat potatoes dry with a paper towel and check the potatoes to make sure they aren’t bruised, (if they are cut out what can’t be used and discard).

·      Using the tines of a fork poke holes in the surface of the potato. Wrap in aluminum foil with the poked side facing up. This will allow air to escape and prevent the potato from bursting in the oven.

·      Bake for 50-60 minutes at 400 degrees. When done, open the foil carefully (the purple juice can stain clothing and hands) and allow each potato to cool before re-wrapping and placing in the refrigerator overnight.

Preparing the Pies

·      Preheat oven to 325F.

·      Remove the skins from the potatoes and cut into half inch slices. Fill a potato ricer to the half point and mash the potatoes through the ricer, putting pressure on the ends of the handles for maximum efficiency. Repeat until you can fill your mixing bowl with four cups of mashed potatoes.

·      In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, dark rum, vanilla, and light coconut milk.  Add dark muscovado sugar and mix well.

·      In a small bowl sift China cassia cinnamon, ginger, mace, allspice and cloves. Add salt and cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Add the spice mixture to the wet mixture.

·      Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and incorporate.

·      Using a ladle fill two pie crusts with the sweet potato custard, smoothing the tops with the end of the ladle to ensure even baking.

·      Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

·      Cool on a rack for at least an hour.

·      Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Serve with a dollop of non-fat whipped cream.

Notes:

The North Carolina farmers who grow the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato used to be tobacco farmers. Their story is an interesting one. The Stokes Purple contains high concentrations of the phytochemical anthocyanin and is a variety of sweet potato native to North Carolina. When you buy them you support good health and local farming practices. You can buy Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes at Whole Foods stores or you can purchase them online.

The best dark rum for Purple Potato Pirate Pie is one that has been used to soak raisins for pastry work. The resulting infusion contains the essence of dried fruit which adds flavor. You can make Glass Petal Smoke's Rum Raisin Scones and save the remaining dark rum for Purple Potato Pirate Pie (or Glass Petal Smoke's original Purple Sweet Potato Pie recipe).

Dark muscovado sugar has an intense aromatic bouquet. Unlike regular brown sugar (which has been washed, rinsed and colored) dark muscovado sugar retains all of the molasses and minerals present in sugar. This is immediately evident when you open up the bag and are greeted by a bouquet that includes notes of molasses, burnt caramel, coffee, oak, tobacco, cloves and chocolate. Dark muscovado sugar is the sugar of choice for making genuine rum hence its inclusion in this recipe.

Mexican Vanilla Extract is extraordinarily fragrant and high in vanillin (a naturally occurring molecule in vanilla bean responsible for its rich, creamy character). An eight ounce bottle costs $6.50 though you may want to buy a larger size to economize if you bake often. Certified Iranian Sargol Saffron available online. Glass Petal Smoke utilizes this spice in Gâteau Baiser De Safran (Saffron Kiss Cake).

Curious about the history of Captain William Kidd? Read "The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd," by  Richard Zacks. You can find an excerpt here.

September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Talk Like a Pirate is the go-to site for fans of pirate history. It includes a Pirate-English generator.

The painting that accompanies this post is titled "Captain Kidd in New York Harbor".  It  was painted in 1920 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris.

"O" is for Osmanthus: Explorations in Cake

Osmanthus is an ingredient that is gradually becoming familiar to the American palate. The dried blossoms are redolent of apricot, lemon and blonde leather, the later of which may seem unusual to the uninitiated palate. Saffron has the same animalic quality as osmanthus, but its leather note is rounded out by impressions of hay, honeyed musk, and almonds. How an ingredient is used in food preparation determines the way we perceive its flavor. The leatheric aspect of osmanthus is easily tempered when the blossoms are used to flavor tea or fowl, but osmanthus is especially delicious and well-tamed when used to make an infused sugar for pastry.

Making an infused sugar using osmanthus is quite simple. Dried osmanthus blossoms are combined with coarse grade sugar. The two ingredients are then ground together and allowed to macerate for at least a week. Glass Petal Smoke's recipe for Osmanthus Teacake makes use of this technique so you can experience the flavor of osmanthus. There's an added health benefit too; osmanthus blossoms are rich in carotenoid antioxidants. Go ahead. Have your cake and eat it too.

Osmanthus Teacake

Recipe by Michelle Krell Kydd 

Serves 9-12

Ingredients:

·      2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

·      ¼ cup golden flaxseed meal

·      1½ teaspoons baking powder (non-aluminum)

·      ¼ teaspoon baking soda

·      ½ teaspoon sea salt (non-iodized)

·      ½ cup raw cane (or turbinado) sugar for infused sugar

·      ½ cup dried Osmanthus petals for infused sugar

·      1 cup low fat, low sodium buttermilk (room temperature)

·      1 tablespoon almond extract

·      2 large eggs (slightly beaten, room temperature)

·      ⅓ cup sweet unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

·      3 ounces golden raisins

Directions for Making Infused Sugar:

·      Layer sugar and flowers in a spice grinder or mini food processor.

·      Grind ingredients together making sure that the sugar remains crystallized (over-grinding produces a powder). The result should be a sugar evenly tinged with the color of the flowers.

·      Store in a sealed glass jar until ready to use.

 Instructions:

·      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

·      Grease one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan (or three 5.75 x 3 inch loaf pans) with cooking spray.

·      In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and flaxseed meal, blending well.

·      In a medium sized bowl, mix eggs, melted butter and extract.  Add buttermilk and incorporate.  If using dried fruit, add it to the wet mixture.

·      Make a well in the center of the bowl with the dry ingredients and add wet ones.  Combine wet and dry ingredients together, folding gently with a silicone spatula.  Be careful not to over mix.

·      Pour batter into prepared pans and spread evenly.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (30 – 35 minutes from smaller loaves), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

·      Cool for ten minutes.  Remove from pans and place on wire rack to continue cooling.  Refrigerate or freeze for future use.  The large loaf yields 10-12 slices, the smaller loaf yields 5-6 slices.

Notes:

Dried Osmanthus Petals are available online from TeaSpring. The quality is superb and any flowers not used for baking can be infused with green tea for a delicious drink. Ten Ren Tea also carries Osmanthus, but dirt and particulate matter show up in this brand and it is not recommended.

Photograph of "Listening to Osmanthus," by Michelle Krell Kydd. 

Purple Sweet Potato Pie: An Exercise in Multisensory Baking

Baking engages every sense. We use our eyes to select ingredients and observe their transformation as they are combined. We listen to the sound of sugar hissing as it is poured into a bowl. We use our hands to work dough, sometimes noticing an uncanny resemblance to a body part or human flesh. We smell the aroma of butter, flour, sugar and eggs, and are immediately transported to another time; a time when small hands firmly grasped mixer beaters coated in raw pastry, our mouths whetted by appetites larger than paltry batter could yield. We felt the granular texture of sugar and the grit of grain against our butter moistened tongues. Years later we wonder; is there really any greater pleasure than this?

Ingredients are important for the quality and variety of experience they bring to the palate. When ingredients are particularly vibrant in color the multisensory experience of baking grows more expansive and transports the senses. In the case of the Stokes® Purple Sweet Potato the benefits extend beyond vision and taste; the potatoes contain a high concentration of the phytochemical anthocyanin, the same beneficial antioxidant found in blueberries. Watching the potato ricer exude deep purple strands has a way of making the sides of one's mouth curl up in a smile, a gentle reminder that baking can be fun and beautiful.

Purple Sweet Potato Pie

Recipe by Michelle Krell Kydd

Yield: Two Pies

Ingredients:  

·        4 cups Stokes® Purple Sweet Potatoes (baked, cooled and mashed with a ricer)

·        1 cup dark muscovado sugar (firmly packed)

·        1 cup light coconut milk

·        2 tbsp. dark rum

·        1 tsp. vanilla

·        4 large omega-3 eggs

·        4 tbsp. cornstarch

·        1 tbsp. ground China cassia cinnamon

·        1 tsp. ground cardamom

·        1 tsp. ground nutmeg

·        1 tsp. non-iodized sea salt

·        (2) Arrowhead Mills® prepared 9-inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Instructions:

Preparing the Potatoes

·        The day before you make the pie prepare 5 medium Stokes® Purple Sweet Potatoes for baking.

·        Preheat oven to 400F.

·        Gently rinse each potato using your fingers to rub off any surface dirt. Pat potatoes dry with a paper towel and check the potatoes to make sure they aren’t bruised, (if they are cut out what can’t be used and discard).

·       Using the tines of a fork poke holes in the surface of the potato. Wrap in aluminum foil with the poked side facing up. This will allow air to escape and prevent the potato from bursting in the oven.

·        Bake for 50-60 minutes at 400 degrees. When done, open the foil carefully (the purple juice can stain clothing and hands) and allow each potato to cool before re-wrapping and placing in the refrigerator overnight.

Preparing the Pies

·        Preheat oven to 325F.

·        Remove the skins from the potatoes and cut into half inch slices. Fill a potato ricer to the half point and mash the potatoes through the ricer, putting pressure on the ends of the handles for maximum efficiency. Repeat until you can fill your mixing bowl with four cups of mashed potatoes.

·        In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, dark rum, vanilla, and light coconut milk.

·        Add dark muscovado sugar, corn starch, China cassia cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt to the liquid mixture and mix well.

·        Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and incorporate.

·        Using a ladle fill two pie crusts with the sweet potato custard, smoothing the tops with the end of the ladle to ensure even baking.

·        Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

·        Cool on a rack for at least an hour.

·        Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Serve with a dollop of non-fat Greek yogurt and garnish with pecans.

Notes:
Sweet potatoes are tubers and are related to the Morning Glory family of plants.

Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes are available at select Whole Foods stores. You can also purchase them online. 

Glass Petal Smoke recommends the OXO® Ricer. Its ergonomic design makes it a pleasure to work with.

Okinawa Sweet Potatoes are less purple than the Stokes® and possess a flavor profile nuanced with spice. They will work in this recipe (as will regular sweet potatoes) and are available at Melissa's.