Making Latakia at Home

[ChinaVoodoo]

Three interesting tidbits about lavender, with regard to Latakia:

1. lavare is the Latin verb, "to wash". So that suggests that (at least somebody's) grandma soap contained lavender.
2. Lavendula angustifolia, also called "English Lavender", is native to the Mediterranean basin, and is the most common of the dozens of lavender species used in making scents and essential oils.
3. Lavendula angustifolia also contains camphor!

Looks like I'll be planting some lavender.

Bob

I'm sure there are different types. I had some. The type I had was hardy in Edmonton, and it was incredible difficult to kill by neglect. Eventually, I had to turn to verbal abuse.

 

[CobGuy]

Lavender makes an interesting and complex addition to snuff … especially when combined with wood oils (cedar, rosewood, etc)

 

[deluxestogie]

it was incredible difficult to kill by neglect

Apparently it is easy to kill with love. It likes a gravel/sandy loam that is well drained, roasting hot in the summer, and not tainted with fertilizer. Organic soil supplements, ample watering and diligent fertilizer, together with lovely weather spell its doom. I can easily picture it thriving in the horrid, arid heather slopes of the Mediterranean, where "briar" for pipes is grown (i.e. wasteland).

Bob

EDIT: Perhaps I will construct a special, raised bed at the side of my white curing shed, and fill it with sand and limestone gravel and a smidgen of dirt. That spot gets double blasted by the sun for about 8 hours every day.

 

[CobGuy]

LOL … sounds like my yard!

~Darin

 

[GreenDragon]

The Austin area is an interesting place to live geologically speaking. Interstate I-35 follows a geological transition between the Edwards plateau and the Texas hill country where the elevation abruptly rises and turns into uplifted hills made of ancient seabed aka limestone. East of I-35 (where I live) is the Blackland Prairie known for its intensely dark (black) fertile souls very suited for growing corn and cotton. West quicly changes to shallow poor souls atop deep limestone formations.

I’ve never been successful in growing lavender, but friends west of me can’t kill it!!

NB - I saw bunches of dried lavender in the grocery store today for $5.99 for about a 1/2 lb bunch. Hmmmm

 

[deluxestogie]

A clue as to lavender's preferences is the fact that it is legally an invasive species in Australia.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Bob, I have two lavender plants growing in large pots, my region is not the best for this plant (too humid), but they work great in pots.
(I never need to water them)

 

[deluxestogie]

I have two lavender plants growing in large pots

But are they French Lavender or English Lavender?

Bob

 

[Charly]

But are they French Lavender or English Lavender?

Bob

Good question, I don't know
It might be some english one... I'll have to identify it correctly (if I can)

 

[deluxestogie]

The differences between French lavender and English lavender:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/lavender/french-vs-english-lavender.htm

Bob

French Lavender

English Lavender

 

[Charly]

With these pictures, I can clearly say I do not have french lavender
It must be english ones.

It makes me want to try to burn some and see what kind of smell I get... (I use small bags full of lavender in my wardrobe and I know what lavender smells, but I have never burnt some...)

 

[Traveling Piper]

There are a lot of exciting things going on here in the Latakia realm. I can get next to the lavender notes--no doubt. I'm excited to see where this one may go!

 

[Alpine]

I finally talked to my Syrian colleague, and he asked his relative what was used originally in Syria to smoke Latakia.
Pinus brutia, but only the very top of the plant. Hope this clarifies the Latakia process at least a smidge...

Pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Thanks, Pier. I have no doubt that scrub wood common to the eastern Mediterranean basin were opportunistically scavenged for firing the tobacco. But every historic report includes "herbs" in the list of burned materials. I'm guessing lavender, myrtle and heather were thrown in there to mask the turpentine aroma of excess pine, or perhaps just because they are frequently discarded after pruning or land clean-up.

In Italy, you may be able to obtain the very same wood varieties.

Bob

EDIT: from Wikipedia: Pinus brutia is a popular ornamental tree, extensively planted in parks and gardens in hot dry areas (such as southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada and west and central Texas in the United States), where its considerable heat and drought tolerance is highly valued. The subspecies eldarica is the most drought tolerant form, used in Afghanistan, Iran and more recently in Arizona, California, and Texas. In the United States Pinus brutia subsp. eldarica is referred to as "Eldarica pine", "Afghan pine" or "Mondell pine"

 

[deluxestogie]

Today I gathered the dried stems from a mint plant that had died-back during the winter. During the summer, it has somewhat rounded leaves (as opposed to the longer and narrower leaves of spearmint). When the cuttings were first given to me, I was told that it was an heirloom peppermint. Its leaves have never really tasted like peppermint, but more like a vague cinnamon. Given the broad family that includes mint relatives (like basil, oregano, marjoram, and even lavender), I suppose this heirloom (open pollinated) mint could be a little off-type for peppermint. It's wonderful, though, in iced tea, so long as I steep it along with the tea bag(s).

I burned a dried twig on the stove. The aroma is rather nice, and I believe it would be a good addition to the Latakia smoking woods. But the mint smoke does not smell like mint. [By the way, if you burn dried oregano or tea leaf, you end up with something that smells like burning marijuana--not exactly what the Latakia doctor ordered.]

So, I'll add my dried mint twigs to lavender twigs (and maybe a few more interesting candidates) for a Latakia trial this season.

Bob

 

[FmGrowit]

Your recent observation of Sweetgum hulls got me thinking about sampling some Beechnut hulls...I'm not sure why other than Beech-nut gum was my favorite childhood treat. The hulls would be relatively easy to harvest since the leaves of the Beech tree hang on long after all the other hardwoods have shed their leaves and the seed falls relatively early. I could just set a couple of tarps out under a tree and let the squirrels do all the work.

There's a nice grove of mature Beech across the tracks, I'll mossy over there tomorrow to see if i can find a few hulls that wintered over in a protected spot and send them to you.

 

[deluxestogie]

Beech-nut hulls sounds like an interesting candidate. Thanks.

I have another winner! Seven years ago, I harvested whole branches of rosemary, enclosed them in Agribon AG-15, and hung them on the back porch to dry in the sun. I ignored it. There it was, hanging today, high above one of my seedling trays.

All the leaves were completely brown, but highly aromatic if broken. The relatively thin and kinked stems are a solid wood, requiring a cutter to "break" a 1/4" diameter.

I burn tested the stem first. Very impressive. It's distinctly aromatic, but does not smell like the culinary herb, rosemary. Those old, dried, brown, seven-year-old leaves, on the other hand, smell like I'm roasting rosemary chicken--not suitable.

So dried rosemary stems go on the "nice for Latakia" list. The leaves do not. I'm wondering if the same may be true of other mint family herbs. That is, the herb isn't right, but its dried stems may be perfect.

Thanks to GreenDragon's inspiration regarding grandma soap, I think we are approaching a generalizable rule of thumb. I'll have to try just the stems of more herbs. These (or their close relatives) may be the "herbs" used in the legendary Latakia process stories.

If you grow mint family herbs, save the stems!

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Materials (so far) for Smoking Latakia

Here is where I stand with deciding on smoking materials for creating Latakia. My testing consists simply of igniting a fleck of the material on my electric stove burner, and smelling the early and late smoke. If you use another ignition source for your own testing, try to select a heat source that does not contribute its own aroma. (Matches give off sulfur dioxide.)

As you can see below, I have not yet tested some of the listed materials (indicated by the final column), but expect to this season.

Download PDF of table.

Download Excel Spreadsheet .xlsx file of the table, to insert your own tests.

Bob

 

[Traveling Piper]

I actually picked up a marjoram plant this past weekend for this very reason. Such a beautiful smelling herb.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

It's super easy to grow coriander. I fill about one slice jar per two plants