E99-EsAns - Arab Perfumes Made in Germany!

Saturday afternoon in Nuremberg - booked up hotels, heavy traffic and a stressful search for a parking spot. Reason for my journey: Nuremberg is the city of a young perfumer who we found recently. Today, I have a date for the interview. I will meet him in Nuremberg's picturesque city center and I am really curious about this person. There are only few shops in my country with original Arab perfume oils - and suddenly, there is somebody who creates his own fragrances in that tradition. In the end, we had a long talk in a street café, and we only left in the evening after the waiters had started to close the place.

Apicius: Thank you, Musab, for your time. Please explain to us what E99-EsAns is all about.

U.M. Karali: E99-EsAns is my own perfume manufacture, a family-run business. We produce high quality perfumes and perfume oils. My first collection is dedicated mainly to the Arab perfume tradition. But it is my concern that my fragrances can be enjoyed by people from all cultural habitats. This is why my perfumes are halal as well as kosher. I have got the necessary certifications. Besides that, my fragrances are strictly vegan. I do not use anything that comes from animals.

Apicius: I have not yet thought twice about to which extent animal products play a role in perfumery.

U.M. Karali: Many perfumes contain gelatin, and that comes from pigs. And then there is the issue of musk. Musk plays a big role especially in Arab perfumery. It is known, for example, that close to Riad in Saudi Arabia, there are farms where these animals are bred. Also for this reason I would like to emphasize that all my products are vegan.

Apicius: How did you become a perfumer then?

U.M. Karali: My mother has always supported me strongly. As a young boy she let me smell all her perfumes. Fragrances have always been a topic. An eventually, I had to decide whether to study chemistry or to follow my passion. So I took all perfume classes that I could find. Finally, I traveled to Mecca and asked my way through. At Abdulsamad Al Qurashi and other companies I was welcomed with open arms. So I was able to complete my education in Mecca and Medina. It was a journey of 7 years and now I may call myself a perfumer.

My experience is that doors will open if you follow a cause with passion and love. For sure, divine guidance was there as well.

Apicius: You are not an Arab?

U.M. Karali: My family comes from the town Trabzon in north-eastern Turkey. Turkey is a patchwork quilt as far as interest for perfume is concerned. But in all places where Kurds live, Armenians or people who belong to the Jewish religion, the art of perfumery is strongly rooted.

Apicius: The interest for Arab perfumery goes along with the matter of oud. According to my experience, the synthetic oud bases that by now are supposedly used in most oud perfumes have nothing to do with natural oud oil.

U.M. Karali: But you don't have to fall back on synthetic substitutes. It only gets too expensive for most customers if you use very old oud. There is another way. For my perfume „Oud Al Ebrar" I use oud from 7 different regions. Oud is very multifaceted: some qualities can be repugnant, but with others you want to cry for joy.

Apicius: Quality has its price. There is a flood of cheap Arab perfume oils. Some Arab houses issue perfume oils to the marked for the lowest price possible, and they simply are not good. Then, they continue their lineup with high-level oud oils that cost hundreds of dollars. It seems, there is nothing much in between.

U.M. Karali: The most expensive fragrance I made was at 300 €. I ask considerably less for most of my products. I do not produce perfume oils for 2,50 €. Perfume should be something noble.

Apicius: Fragrant essences were already being used in ancient times. But it seems that the Medieval in Europe brought a setback also for the culture of beautiful fragrances. Only with Farina in Cologne the European perfume culture started its development around 1700. Can you tell us something about the history of Arab perfumery?

U.M. Karali: The link to ancient times is not lost. They say that 7 rabbis once compiled all knowledge about the creation of precious fragrances. They passed it to their followers as secret knowledge. So today, there are still 7 hidden or esoteric perfumers who guard this treasure now in the 19th generation. No one knows them by name, and they only produce for the rich and the powerful of the Orient.

Hints to the use of fragrance can be found in the bible as well as in the Koran. The prophet anointed his beard with musk - and this still continues to inspire us until today.

The Arab perfume tradition emerged at the same time as the European. Its origin lies in the universities of Egypt where liberal clerics interpreted the Islam's ban of alcohol. Indeed it was forbidden to drink alcohol but not to use it for other purposes. This opened the door to the distillation of rose, later also jasmine. In 1865 the founder of the house Al Qurashi brought this technique to Mecca.

Apicius: So far for the past - let's talk about the future! What is it that you want to achieve as a perfumer? What are you up to?

U.M. Karali: Every human has his own unmistakable personality. This refers to the fact that every human has his own scent. Thus, it must be possible to create a perfume in a way that it completely represents this person. This is the problem that my thoughts revolve around.

Apicius: How do you proceed?

U.M. Karali: The body scent is important, the diet, even the breath in the morning gives clues. Creating a really personal perfume is only possible if the customer is willing to participate in a process. There is a form with partly very intimate questions about these things, and then I ask for a worn t-shirt which we provide. Only on such a base the work can begin.

Apicius: That's impressive! So, how can the readers of Parfumo get to know your perfumes?

U.M. Karali: Until shortly we had a shop in Nuremberg in a shopping mall. But we did not like the environment there and so we are now looking for a new facility. If things turn out right we will soon re-open in a nicer place in Nuremberg. Also, I am currently working on our own shop on the net. Anybody interested is welcome to contact me directly - my Parfumo name is E99EsAns.

Apicius: What is this name about?

U.M. Karali: It has to do with ambitious essences. The E99 can have different meanings depending on culture, religion, knowledge and more. For some, it means 99 sorts of essences. Or a declaration number for vegans. Or the 99 beautiful names of Allah that are known in the Orient. But maybe there are just 99 reasons to buy our perfumes - as many customers say!

Apicius: I wish you lots of success and thank you for this interview!