[Sca-cooks] Difference between rosewater and damask water?

[Johnna Holloway]

To start, you may want the earliest version of this Partridge text
which is now at medievalcookery.com.
I just sent an edited version
in of the 1573 text which Doc has posted.

For those without the text at hand, the recipe begins: "TAke halfe  
a .li. of blanched Almons, & of white sugre: a quarter of a .lb.: of  
Rosewater,
halfe an ounce: & of Damaske water, asmuche. "

In most instances in this work Partridge will say "moste excellent  
cast two Spoonful of Rose or Damaskwater" or
"Ladle with a little damask or Rose water' or "put ther to some pure  
rose water, or damaskwater," seemingly using them as interchangeably.

If you don't have the full text at hand, you may not have noticed that  
Partridge includes a recipe
for how to make said water. His recipe:

An other manner of makyng of Damaske   
water.                                      cap.xlix.
TAke of Arace or Iris, of Spike flowres dried, of Cloues, of ech .i.  
ouce, make the in
poder, put them together with a pint of new Ale in cornes, and .i.  
pynte of Rosewater, into
an earthen pot: put therto a good manye of grene Rose leaues, let them  
soke in it, a night
tyme, stoped close, in the morninge when ye wyll distyll, first lay  
other Roseleues in the
bottom of your Stilitory for fere of cleuing to, then take of the Rose  
leaues, out of the Pot,
and put them with other greene Rose leaues in your Stilitory  
sufficient, and to the water:
put Muske as aboue is sayd.  This water is excellent to set foorth a  
Tarte, an Apple
moyse, or Almond butter.

So in the above recipe, we have Damaske water being distilled of  
certain spices and herbs, along with the new ale and rosewater.

----
Recipewise, it's called for extensively in the 1558  The secretes of  
the reuerende Maister Alexis of Piemount.

In the section on "odoriferous and sweete water" you find recipes like
"To make an odoriferous and sweete water, verye good.
TAke twelue pounde of Damaske rose water, Lauander water, Cloues,  
Synamom, of eche of them a dragme, Mace, great Cardamomum, Muske,  
Amber, of eche of them halfe a scruple, drie Pylles of Citrons,  
Sandalum citrinum, Ireos, of eche of them halfe a dragme, Bengewin,  
Storax calamita, of eche a scrupule, and of all this make a  
composition, the which you shall put in a vessell of glasse well  
stopped, leauinge it so by the space of fiftene daies. Afterwarde let  
it bee distilled in Bal-eo Marie, the maner whereof is described in  
the first booke, and the water that shall issue oute of it, put in a  
violle well stopt in the Sunne the space of fiftene dayes, and than  
shall you haue a water of greate excellencie."

----

Thomas Hill's 1577 The gardeners labyrinth calls for "in eyther  
damaske or muske water" in two recipes.

Likewise, William Bullein in Bulleins bulwarke of defence (1579) calls  
for "& strongly beaten with the pestell, pouring in sweete Rose, or  
Damaskewater."

------

The chapter "Of sweet Waters particularly described" in the 1616  
Maison rustique, or The countrey farme contains this recipe:

"Damaskewater: Take two handfuls and a halfe of red Roses, Rosemarie  
flowers, Lauander and Spike flowers, of each a Pugill: of the sprigges  
of Thyme, flowers of Cammomile, flowers of small Sage, of Penyryall,  
and Marierome, of each a handfull: infuse them all in white Wine the  
space of foure and twentie houres: then put them into the Stillitorie,  
sprinkling it with verie good white Wine, and scatter thereupon this  
powder following: take an ounce and a halfe of well chosen Cloues, an  
ounce of Nutmegs, of Beniouin and Styrax calami-a, of each two  
drammes, make  them in powder: The water that shall be distilled, must  
be kept in a vessell verie well stopped." pp 463-464

-----
Markham often calls "Damaske Rose-water" in editions of The English  
House-wife.

His 1633 recipe for "A very rare and plesant Da|mask water.
Take a quart of malmsey Lees, or a quart of malm|sey simply, one  
handfull of margerome, of Basill as much, of Lauender foure handfuls,  
bay-leaues one good handfull, Damaske rose-Leaues foure handfuls, and  
as many of red, the pils of sixe Orenges, or for want of them one  
handful of the tender Leaues of walnut-trees, of Beniamine halfe an  
ounce, of Callamus Aramaticus as much, of Camphire foure drammes, of  
Cloues one ounce, of Baldamum halfe an ounce; then take a pottle of  
running water, and put in all these spices bruised into your water and  
malmsey together in a close stopped pot, with a good handfull or  
Rosemary, and let them stand for the space of sixe dayes: then di| 
still it with a soft fire: then set it in the Sunne sixteene dayes  
with foure graines of Muske bruised. This quan|tity will make three  
quarts of water, Probatum est." pages 153-154

-----
"Damask rose water" is called for in a number of recipes found in The  
Queens closet opened of 1659.
It includes this recipe:

"To make excellent Perfumes.
Take a quarter of a pound of Damask Rose-buds cut clean from the  
Whites, stamp them very small, put to them a good spoonful of Damask  
Rose-water, so let them stand close stopped all night, then take one  
ounce and a quarter of Benjamin finely beaten, and also searsed, (if  
you will) twenty grains of Civit, and ten grains of Musk; mingle these  
with the Roses, beating them well together, then make it up in little  
Cakes between Rose leaves, and dry them between sheets of paper."

---

Digby also calls for "Damask-Rose-water" in his Closet.



Hope this helps,

Johnnae

On May 9, 2010, at 12:36 PM, Kathy Anderson wrote:

> Howdy!
>
> I am reconstructing a recipe for Marchpaines (Treasurie of  
> Commodious Conceits, 1591) that calls for both rosewater and damask  
> water. I would have thought they were the same thing, since Damascus  
> is a major category of roses.
>
> Has anyone else run into this? Are rosewater and damask water the  
> same, or different?
>
> Many thanks! Have a wonderful Mothers' Day!
>
> Wulfwen/Kathy : )
>