Rosewater

Rosewater or rose syrup (Persian: گلاب Golâb, Turkish: Gül suyu, Arabic: ماء ورد Mây ward) is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals. Rosewater, itself a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume, is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia.

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Rose perfumes are made from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam-distilling the crushed petals of roses, a process first developed in Persia and Bulgaria. Rose water is a by-product of this process.

Rosewater has a very distinctive flavour and is used heavily in South Asian, West Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine—especially in sweets. For example, rosewater gives loukoumia and gulab jamuns their distinctive flavours. In Iran it is also added to tea, ice cream, cookies and other sweets in small quantities. It is also a key ingredient in Sweet Lassi, a drink made from yogurt, sugar and various fruit juices, and is also used to make jallab. In Malaysia and Singapore, rosewater is mixed with milk, sugar and pink food colouring to make a sweet drink called bandung. In Western Europe, rosewater is sometimes used to flavour both marzipan and a shell-shaped French cake (sometimes called a cookie) known as a madeleine.

A rosewater ointment is occasionally used as an emollient, and rosewater is sometimes used in cosmetics such as cold creams. Zamzam water, used to clean the Kaaba, a holy shrine of Islam located in Mecca, includes rose water as a component. Rosewater is used in some Hindu rituals as well.

Rosewater was first produced by Muslim chemists in the medieval Islamic world through the distillation of roses, for use in the drinking and perfumery industries.^[1]

Rose water is also lovely for the skin. If you wet a cotton ball with rose water and wipe it over your face, it has a nice tingling astringent quality and smells beautiful. (It might not be good for particularly dry skin though as it could dry out the skin).

Rose water is a good alternative to commercial, alcohol-based "toners."

It can be difficult to find but if you hunt around it can be found in some grocery stores, probably in the baking section. Health food stores may have it in "mist" form, but it likely more expensive. It would be very easy to pour rose water into a mist.

In a mister, rose water makes a nice air freshener (without all of the chemicals).

See skin care:

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References

See also

• Qamsar, Iran - biggest source of rosewater in Middle East.
• Kasarnaba, Lebanon - Traditional growers of roses and producers of rosewater.