Jasminum Sambac

Among the most iconic plants of the Medici's collection is the "Jasmine of the Grand Duke". Originally coming from Goa, it was offered to Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici by the King of Portugal, Peter II. The Grand Duke fell in love with it and turned out to collect its flowers in a special greenhouse in his Villa di Castello, out of Florence: the so called “Stufa dei Mugherini” (i.e. “conservatory of jasmines”). A secret recipe of Jasmine Chocolate from an ancient book by Francesco Redi employed a large number of those flowers mixed with cocoa beans and cold-worked to realize sublime scented pralines.