[Sca-cooks] Asabi Zainab

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

>At 06:20 AM 12/7/2004, you wrote:
>  >Also you may be getting icky rosewater. I've had really good subtle
>  >rosewater and really chemical-tasting rosewater.
>
>This is quite possible. I don't care for the stuff in the little blue
>bottle, but the rosewater I got at a Lebanese grocery was vaairy naahce
>(ok- imagine silly French accent!)
>
>'Lainie

Hey, watch where you point that accent!

The stuff in the little blue bottle is likely to be French. In 1973, 
when i lived in France, in Le Cannet, i was just a few blocks from 
Chez Funel, a distillery of flower waters that was several hundred 
years old. Still had old copper stills in their distillery.

My first rose and orange flower waters were theirs, in lovely blue 
glass bottles. At some point, i found them in the US in little 
plastic squeeze bottles. Eventually i no longer found little blue 
bottles labeled as being from Funel, but only marked with the name of 
the American distributor. They are HIGHLY concentrated. One only 
needs a drop or a few. If you have used this brand, you may be 
finding it unpleasant because you are using too much.

For SCA feasts i've been using Lebanese rose and orange flower waters 
- IIRC, the brand name is Costas. These are MUCH MORE dilute, so i 
use them by the spoonful with no complaints about soapy or chemical 
taste.

Anahita