Azahar
it's heeeere!
My first spring in Sevilla (1994) was also the first time I ever experienced azahar. I didn’t know what had hit me. I mean, I obviously knew there were orange trees everywhere, in fact lining my own street, but that spring morning it totally took me by surprise. Suddenly there it was, a soft delicate fragrance that I almost felt first because I found myself wondering why I was feeling so darn happy. And then…oh! I looked around and that’s when I noticed the small white flowers that had apparently blossomed overnight. And every year since it’s been the same, even though I am now always looking out for it and rejoicing at the first sighting of tiny buds and new leaves in the trees, I am still always taken by surprise, just walking along one day and it hits me. And this year was no exception with the first blossoms suddenly open this week.
For the record, when it comes to a sense of smell, I am basically a dog. I can smell things most people don’t even notice, which believe me, can be both a blessing and a curse. I’ve had to leave bars or restaurants that have recently cleaned up due to the overpowering (for me) smell of bleach, and any sort of chemical “air freshener” pretty much knocks me out. Incense is also too much for me to handle, which makes Semana Santa around here, along with the weeks leading up to it, quite fraught. But it literally makes me nauseous… I can’t help it.
When it comes to natural floral scents, I quite like stopping in at a florist, or catching a delicate whiff of jasmine outdoors, for example. But if a biznaga comes anywhere near me I feel like I’m going to pass out, and just forget about hyacinths. Yet I can’t ever get enough of azahar. Go figure. So luckily for me, there are over 40,000 orange trees in Sevilla, specifically the citrus aurantium, the sour or bitter orange tree, brought here a millennium ago by the Moors, and its blossom is the azahar, which means white flower in Arabic.
Note: If you’re interested in finding out more about oranges and orange trees in Spain, check out Blanca Valencia’s article The Art of Spanish Oranges.
In Sevilla orange blossom season only lasts about 2-3 weeks and can happen anytime between late February to mid-April. It is my happiest time of year. And as with all brief times of joy, there is a natural tendency to want to hold onto it, tuck it away for later, have it with you always. Believe me, I’ve tried. But I’ve found there’s no perfume, extract or oil that can take the place of that delicate sunny scent of azahar in the air on a warm spring morning.
Meanwhile, agua de azahar (orange blossom water) is everywhere in Andalucía and has many uses. At Noor, Córdoba’s 3-star Michelin restaurant that takes diners through the history of Andalusian cuisine one century at at time, orange blossom water is poured over your hands at a basin when you enter, as was the custom in the Islamic culture when entering houses or during tea service.
Indeed, agua de azahar, a distilled aromatic essence of orange blossom, is still widely used for food, cosmetic and medicinal purposes today. It’s a relatively simple operation: a container is heated with water to create steam which then passes through the orange blossom, heating it and extracting the aromatic substances of the flowers. The fragrance-infused steam is then left to condense and return to liquid, which is deposited into another container. Intensity can vary depending on concentration of the distillation and quality of the flowers, but it tends to be a very intense product to be used sparingly.
In cooking it is a fundamental ingredient in our Roscón de Reyes and other pastries, though care must be taken to ensure you are buying agua de azahar that is designated as a food (and not cosmetic) product. I remember being able to find it at the Farmacía below my apartment in Mateos Gago and that it came in a lovely blue bottle, so it must have been Luca de Tena. It had been recommended to me by my family doctor as a “mild tranquiliser” when I was having issues with panic attacks. He said when they were kids and were nervous before an exam his mother would give him and his siblings a tablespoon of agua de azahar before heading out to school.
It also pops up in other food and beverage items around town, including our classic Roscón de Reyes. There are several ice cream shops that offer seasonal azahar-flavoured ice cream for Easter, Cervezas Luz de Abril have an azahar-infused pale ale, and local group Sevirol has created Sevilla’s answer to the Aperol Spritz, a drink with the citrus flavour of Sevilla bitter orange and a delicate base of orange blossom, mixed with their own brand cavas (white or rosé). In many tapas bars and restaurants azahar appears in both sweet and savoury dishes such as rice pudding, cheesecake and orange salads (with salt cod, carrot or pomegranate).
But What Does Azahar Smell Like?
Other than telling you that azahar smells like sunshine and happiness (I know, not helpful) I honestly don’t know how to express it better in words. But after a look around the ol’ internets for a better description I’ve come up with the following… not saying I agree with all of it, but it’s the same as with wine tasting notes, we all experience these things differently.
Aroma Profile: Sweet, floral, and slightly waxy.
Notes: Honey-sweet, citrusy, and fresh green notes.
Vibe: Often described as romantic, sunny, and nostalgic.
Orange blossom has a fresh, romantic, and sweet scent with strong honeyed, green, and citrusy undertones. It is a rich, heady white floral aroma similar to jasmine, but with a lighter, cleaner, and slightly powdery profile that often evokes Mediterranean summers. It is frequently used in perfumes for its innocent yet sensual, intoxicating aroma.
Often associated with springtime, this scent is frequently used in bridal bouquets and perfumes for its association with purity and love.
I am Azahar, Azahar is Me
That first encounter (and subsequent azahar experiences) had such an impact on me that back in 2002 when I joined my first ever online forum (H2G2 created by Douglas Adams) and a nickname was required (remember when nobody wanted to use their real names on the internet thinking we had privacy?) the first thing that came to mind was to use azahar. And I’ve been using it ever since. In 2006 I called my first blog Casa Azahar, my personal Instagram and Bluesky accounts use the handle azahar and my main website (and company name) is Azahar Sevilla. Heck I even briefly produced a small line of clothing here in 2007 and the name was, yep, Azahar Natural Clothing. Plus I have a little recipe blog called Azahar’s Kitchen. By now it’s so intertwined with my own identity here that when I walk down the street and see a shop or product USING MY NAME I have to remind myself that it’s not actually identity theft. 😅
So I’ll be spending as much time as possible outdoors over the next couple of weeks, just feeling happy. Wish you were here!
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I’d never experienced the scent of orange blossom until my recent visit. I thought I was having olfactory hallucinations! Magical.
I love, love, love azahar!!!!