[Sca-cooks] rosewater

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net> wrote:

> > I picked up two 10-ounce bottles of Indo-European Rosewater at Ralph's Supermarket for $1.49
> each.
> > Nice price, and good quality.  They also had Orange Flower Water, but I prefer to make my own.
> 
> Interesting. Are you making a hydrosol of the flowers, or just an 
> infusion?

When I make it, I usually start with a hydrosol, and use that to make a simple orange water,
depending on the strength I want in the final product.  If I am spraying it on finished baked
goods, I will usually dilute the orange hydrosol with a little bit of alcohol (brandy or
vodka)instead of water.

I have found that, during the distillation of the flowers, adding a tiny bit of honey gives the
resulting brew a nice complexity, but I only do this if I am going to be using it as a culinary
spray/addition.  For simple aroma, I go straight orange blossoms with one or two leaves mixed in
depending on the volume I am distilling.  

However, if you do any experimenting with hydrosols, you might want to try Orange and Rosemary.  A
little 'bleach cap' of this in a tub of hot water makes for a very relaxing bath or footsoak.

I got into making my own orange flower water many years ago, when experimenting with the
distillation of fruit and plant essences for a culinary article (which never made it into the
National Culinary Review because, little did I know, they had already done an article on it).  I
would reccommend the following combinations for anyone wishing to experiment:

Kefir Lime Leaves and Mint
Orange flower and Rosemary
Orange flower and Honey
Pineapple and Mint (especially when dropped into a Rum and Coke!!!)
Muskmelon and Cucumber 
Thyme and Scallion

William de Grandfort

=====
Through teeth of sharks, the Autumn barks.....and Winter squarely bites me.


		
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