[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8089","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"201","alt":""}}]]This edition (Swedish version here) of the food blogging, flavor-pairing event TGRWT - "They Go Really Well Together" -  is devoted to one of the most chameleon-like of odorants: the elusive but potent beta-damascenone, which is important for the heady aroma of Damask roses. It is produced by degradation of carotenoids, which are common plant pigments, and thus it appears in many different foods and beverages.

Beta-damascenone has an unusually low threshold value, so it can be sensed even in very small amounts. That gives it a high odor activity value* in many of the foodstuffs it appears in, such as peaches, lychees, apples, grapes, potatoes, and many alcoholic beverages. It appears in the smell of roasted coffee, but does not seem to transfer well into the brewed cup - perhaps because of the molecule's lack of polarity. Beta-damascenone appears in  many wines, especially red wines with berry notes, but in some instances it seems to enhance some wine notes (caramel, fruity) and suppress others (herbaceous), rather than have a clear character of its own.

Its many flavor notes are described so varyingly one might imagine the molecule darting tirelessly from one part of the odor spectrum to another: rose, honey, apple, woody, herbaceous, nutty, citrus, smoky, wine-like... But one of the more frequently recurring labels for beta-damascenone is "apple", and from that we have this month's flavor pairing: roses and apples. Especially Damask (Rosa × damascena) or related roses and Cox Orange or Elstar apples. If you do not live somewhere with roses blooming in april, you can try other rose products - preferentially oil-based or with whole roses (such as rose jam). Feel free to add some wine to your dish if you like, in keeping with the theme.

This is how you can participate in TGRWT #17:

1. Prepare a dish that combines rose and apple. You can either use an existing recipe (if there is any) or come up with your own.

2. Take a picture of the dish and write an entry in your blog by May 8th with TGRWT #17 in the title. Readers will be particularily interested in how the flavour pairing worked out, so make an attempt at describing the taste and aroma and whether you liked it or not.

3. A round-up will be posted here (with pictures). Please send an email to malin (at) taffel (dot) se with the following details: Your name, URL of blog, URL of the TGRWT #17 post and a picture for your
entry in the round-up. If you don't have a blog, email me your name, location, recipe and a brief description of how it worked out and I'll be glad to include it in the final round-up.

*the OAV is a rough measure of the impact of an odorant's intensity. A high OAV will likely overestimate the impact of an odorant, as explained here by Martin at Khymos - this is well illustrated by the debate on the role of beta-damascenone in wines.