Rose Water

[gini]

We use rosewater in my house to cure the common cold -

Mix half a shot rose water, the juice of one lemon, a good spoonful of honey and hotwater in a glass and drink.

Really helps open up your sinuses.

Our bottle is clear and has arabic writing on it, not western characters.

[K8memphis]

I have a bottle sitting in the drawer over there that I haven't even opened yet. I was thinking about some spring time cookies or something.

The last time I used rosewater was eons ago in baklava--it was heavenly.

Edited March 27, 2006 by K8memphis (log)

[Franci]

Do you remember the brand that you used to buy and liked? Country of origin? What the label looked like? Anything?

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Al Wadi. I like it.

But for others, in Italy they sell a rose water in a cobalt bottle in the pharmacy , but that one is just a skin tonic not suitable for drinking......are we talking about the same stuff?

http://www.beautyhabit.com/acquarose.html

[Sugarella]

We use rosewater in my house to cure the common cold -

Mix half a shot rose water, the juice of one lemon, a good spoonful of honey and hotwater in a glass and drink.

Really helps open up your sinuses. 

←

That's a cure for the common cold in my house too. Except I omit the rosewater and reduce the lemon by half, add a few cloves.... add a cinnimon stick.... add a double shot of grand marinier......

Al Wadi. I like it.

But for others, in Italy they sell a rose water in a cobalt bottle in the pharmacy , but that one is just a skin tonic not suitable for drinking......are we talking about the same stuff?

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Ah, I think you may be on to something here..... I wonder if my stuff is meant as a skin tonic?

I think my next step is to be off to an iranian or lebanese shop and see if the shopkeeper has any ideas....

[SuzySushi]

Here is one mail order source (with picture) for the French rosewater by A. Monteux.

Kalustyans also carries it.

[Abra]

Geez, woman, don't drink the stuff! Like you don't drink vanilla! It's a flavoring, meant to be a just hint in a mouthful. Personally, I love it and think it tastes like summer. I have Al Wadi too, not by any preference, but because that's what's always been available to me.

Here's a recipe I created some years ago when I wanted a non-Middle Eastern use - try this and see what you think.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Rose Berry Tortoni

Recipe By :Abra

Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00

Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

1 basket berries of your choice -- use the

most beautiful ones you can find

3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Chambord or Crème de Cassis

3 teaspoons rosewater (divided use)

1 cup half and half

1 cup whipping cream

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

4 oz Italian ladyfingers (savoiardi)

Place berries in a bowl with sugar, liqueur and 1 teaspoon rosewater. Allow to macerate as you prepare the rest of the dessert.

Make a crème anglaise by heating the cream and half and half gently together, either in the microwave or over very low heat.

Mix the egg yolks, sugar and 2 teaspoons rosewater in the top of a double boiler and then place over rapidly boiling water.

Whisk in the hot cream mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens somewhat.

It will still be thin, but will coat your spoon, after about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Crush ladyfingers into small chunks.

When custard is cooled, place in ice cream maker along with 2 tsp. of the juice from the berries, and freeze to a soft ice cream.

Working quickly, in small clear glass bowls layer ice cream, crumbs, berries, a drizzle of the berry juice and a final layer of ice cream.

Decorate top with a berry and a few drops of juice, and set bowls in the freezer.

Remove from freezer 5-10 minutes before serving, to allow ice cream to soften to perfection.

[gfron1]

The crowd is leaning against rose water, so I feel I should play Sandra Day and tip the balance back.

I've had good and bad experiences. The good is when it is used more for aroma than taste. I've been sprinkled with it many times in Morroccan restaurants. I like to drizzle on custard dessert plates (not the dessert itself).

My worst experience, however, was when I made a vanilla cream genois concoction that I thought I would flavor with the rose water...bad idea. No one made it past the first bite, and in fact, it was so bad that not even one person was polite enough to just say they were full - they all told me how disgusting it was in their mouth (what are friends for!).

A brand that I've used and enjoyed is Dabur from an Indian market. I've also used Cortas which is okay (Middle Eastern market).

Cortas also makes a Rose Syrup which I've used to flavor summer drinks, and that's been more successful. There is also the Rose Preserves.

On a related note, I wonder why roses...there are much better scented flowers out there.

Edited March 27, 2006 by gfron1 (log)

[LucyInAust]

Can't say I am a fan of rosewater by itself ... but as an additive in recipes it can be amazing.

I actually make my own (I have no idea if this is how it is made really, I just experimented!) ... I boil up some rose petals in a small amount of water, and it is just amazingly fragrant and fresh (not like some of the bought stuff I've smelt - oh and it is a beautiful colour as well). I've used it in this recipe for "Almond Baklava with Rose water": http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106124

My mum makes Turkish Delight by using my roses to make rose syrup, and that is some of the best turkish delight I've ever had!!!

[gfron1]

Can't say I am a fan of rosewater by itself ... but as an additive in recipes it can be amazing.

I actually make my own (I have no idea if this is how it is made really, I just experimented!) ... I boil up some rose petals in a small amount of water, and it is just amazingly fragrant and fresh (not like some of the bought stuff I've smelt - oh and it is a beautiful colour as well).  I've used it in this recipe for "Almond Baklava with Rose water": http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106124

My mum makes Turkish Delight by using my roses to make rose syrup, and that is some of the best turkish delight I've ever had!!!

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The only word of caution I would add is always make sure that if you're going to consume it v. use it for fragrance, then buy organic roses so you know what chemicals are going into your food. I have a friend who lives next to a rose farm, and they talk about the big chemical trucks that pull in at all hours.

[Gul_Dekar]

In Malaysia, one of my favourite beverages is air sirap, which means 'syrup water' which is basically rosewater syrup diluted with water. Add condensed milk and you have a whole other drink - 'bandung' which tastes just as great. Sorta like the pop on the other side of the world. Wonder why they never made fizzy versions of it though...

[mkayahara]

Yeah, what they all said. It really does have to be used sparingly, just like vanilla extract. I find it absolutely indispensable in making Turkish delight. The bottle I have is Clic brand and made in Lebanon.

[Truffle Guy]

I keep getting bottles of rosewater given to me by various people, and I have several bottles of it hanging around now doing nothing. Try as I might, I just cannot bring myself to add this vile stuff to pastries. People rave about how lovely a scent and taste it's supposed to have, but to me it smells like the worst excuse for artificially scented crud I've ever comes across, and it tastes like.... well I don't know what it tastes like..... but it makes me have to wipe my tongue off wth my sleeve. It's just plain disgusting. Mildly reminiscent of the industrial cleaners they use in hospitals, actually.

So it has just occurred to me that maybe the stuff I've been getting has really been cheap knockoff rosewater and not the real stuff at all. I've never bought any myself so I wouldn't know what to look for. Is it really lovely and ethereal the way people describe? What should I be looking for?

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I think it combines well with the right ingredient. I think Rosewater caramels are great because the buttery, sweet flavor of the caramel really mellows the rosewater flavor. I use Rosemary and Lavender with caramels also and you get the same effect....when combined with the right ingredient....2 strongs do make a right.

Coffee can be the same way. To me, coffee is too strong by itself but when you add it to chocolate or even better....ice cream...it is the best thing in the world.

[Sethro]

Rosewater is kind of gross to me, but I love candied rose petals.

I used to do a cool component that was cubes of vanilla ice cream w/candied rose, coated in crushed almond cookies. I find almond and rose work really well together.

[Sugarella]

Thanks everyone.

Abra - I'll be trying that recipe just as soon as it's berry season around here. (I think I may go a little lighter on the rosewater though....)

Gfron - thanks for the links and recipe...

[Rebo]

I bought a bottle of rose water to use when making honey syrup to go with gulab jamun (sp?), an Indian dessert. At first I found the taste of rose water quite strange, but I really enjoy it now -- in very small amounts.

My husband also adds a drop or two to his tea (both cold and hot) sometimes.

[Lindacakes]

I am very pro rosewater, but you have to be very careful.

Most recently, I had a rose doughnut from the Doughnut Plant. It had rose glaze and three full rose petals on top. I dug it. Served only on "ladies" holidays, like Valentine's and Mother's Day.

I have made an angel food cake with rosewater -- subtle, but intriguing. I think I got the recipe from Epicurious.

I am in constant search to find a taste from my childhood -- my mother once made rose petal jam when I was a child, and I loved it, absolutely adored it, and I keep trying to replicate that experience. Short of making it myself, which is the next step, obviously. It was an amazing clear pink jelly studded with crunchewy candied rose petals.

I've purchased a lot of absolutely horrible products, mostly from Indian markets (like electric pink rose ice cream) in my elusive search for rose perfection.

The only thing that's come close if beach plum jelly, which isn't the same, but somehow captures the exoticness of the color, the taste, the source.

[FoodMan]

Yum of course!

ok, let's get one thing straight people, DO NOT DRINK rosewater or orange blossom water for that matter by itself. Like Abra said, you would not use vanilla extract on it's own in a shot glass would you? Both should be used in small quantities to flavor dishes mainly desserts.

In Lebanese and middle eastern sweets it is indispensible. It is used to flavor the filling for baklawa (baklava) and to flavor the syrup that is is soaked in. A teaspoon for a cup of simple syrup is all you need.

I repeat drinking it on it's own unless you are using it like a medicine is NOT a good idea.

Brands that I like are Cortas and Al-Wadi, both Lebanese of course

here are a few recipes that use it:

fragrant syrup

milk ice cream

a versatile Lebanese nut filling for desserts

nut-stuffed phylo rolls

Hope this clarifies rose water's use a little bit

[Sugarella]

Thanks Foodman. I'll make the syrup this weekend and see if I can get over my aversion to rosewater.

The recipe you posted for Asabih El haroos (nut-stuffed phylo rolls) called for melted Samen or butter; specifically, "Working with one phyllo rectangle at a time brush it lightly with the Samen. " So not wanting to ask a dumb question about what samen is, I looked it up in Wiktionary and got this:

Samen

See also: samen

German

Noun

Samen m (plural Samen)

  1. seed, grain

  2. semen, sperm

... And all I have to say is ------->>

[C. sapidus]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned rosewater lassi. Yum!

Bruce

[MamaC]

I love the rose water as well the rose preserve.

I use the water for Snowball cookies, baklava, apple strudel or added to tea... 2-3 drops the most.

Lindacakes you may find the rose preserve in NY Astoria in Mediteranean Stores such as Greek, Serbian, Russian or Romanian.

[mkayahara]

Thanks Foodman. I'll make the syrup this weekend and see if I can get over my aversion to rosewater.

The recipe you posted for Asabih El haroos (nut-stuffed phylo rolls) called for melted Samen or butter; specifically, "Working with one phyllo rectangle at a time brush it lightly with the Samen. " So not wanting to ask a dumb question about what samen is, I looked it up in Wiktionary and got this:

Samen

See also: samen

German

Noun

Samen m (plural Samen)

  1. seed, grain

  2. semen, sperm

... And all I have to say is ------->>

←

I wonder if this is the same thing as what Paula Wolfert calls "smen" (essentially salted, clarified butter) in Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. No doubt the difference in spelling is due to the lack of a consistent transliteration system between Arabic and English. Indian Ghee would probably work as a substitute.

[jpr54_]

i enjoy using rosewater in baked custard-

brands differ but my favorite is cotas from lebanon

[ludja]

I haven't compared the results side by side, but another option for addiing rose flavoring is to use rose geranium leaves. I've successfully used these to scent a vanilla custard sauce which I served with pound cake. (I've also heard suggested uses where you lay and store leaves on or around a finished warm cake to flavor it with rose.)

[FoodMan]

Thanks Foodman. I'll make the syrup this weekend and see if I can get over my aversion to rosewater.

The recipe you posted for Asabih El haroos (nut-stuffed phylo rolls) called for melted Samen or butter; specifically, "Working with one phyllo rectangle at a time brush it lightly with the Samen. " So not wanting to ask a dumb question about what samen is, I looked it up in Wiktionary and got this:

Samen

See also: samen

German

Noun

Samen m (plural Samen)

   1. seed, grain

   2. semen, sperm

... And all I have to say is ------->>

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Samen, Smen, Samnah, Samni....all refer to clarified butter. In this case NOT salted. Melted butter works perfectly fine too.

Please do let us know if you do (or don't) change your mind about the wonderful rosewater.

[improvista]

samen = smen. it's a fermented/cultured (?) AND clarified butter that is very pungeant (in a cheesy moldy sort of way) and is used sparingly. commercial smen may not be as strong, but i wouldn't know as i've never seen it in stores. you could make a substitute by clarifying cultured butter, which is quite readily available now in supermarkets.