[Sca-cooks] [SCA-Laurels] rose water vs. damask water

[Huette von Ahrens]

I have been doing some research on this and some of what has been said is true, in that damask water and rose water are very much alike.  Having consulted Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages, he seems to feel that there is a slight difference between the two, in that the damask rose has more fragrance and other chemicals than the regular garden rose. 

If your friend were willing to do some searching and spend some money, it occured to me that one could substitute damask water with rose attar.  Attar of rose is much stronger that rose water.  However, because it is a major component of perfumes, finding an attar that is food grade might be difficult and somewhat costly.  Attar intended for perfumes are not food grade.

One could also compare an American rose water with a Middle Eastern or Indian made rose water, since damask roses are native to the Middle East.

I remember a previous discussion on this recipe on the SCA Cooks list where the concensus was to just double the amount of rose water, rather than spend the time and effort to deal with the damask water.

If one had access to a goodly amount of true damask roses, one could try to create damask water, probably doubling the amount of petals that a rose water recipe required.  But the problem is that true damask roses are hard to find in the US.  David Austin's English roses are not pure damask roses, although they probably would be better than anything else.  Just make sure that they have not been subjected to insecticides or you will poison anyone who eats your marchpane.

Huette
Caid


--- On Sun, 5/9/10, Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> From: Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
> Subject: Re: [SCA-Laurels] rose water vs. damask water
> To: "Order of the Laurel - Restricted Access" <sca-laurels at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Date: Sunday, May 9, 2010, 12:59 PM
> That is sort of what I had
> hypothesized to the original query.  I don't know all
> the types of roses from which a "water" might have been
> distilled.  I was also wondering whether "rose water"
> might not have as strong a cooking flavor as "damask
> water".
> 
> Alys K.
> 
> Elise Fleming
> alysk at ix.netcom.com
> http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/
> 
> 
> On 5/9/2010 3:19 PM, Pat Pierce wrote:
> > Hm, I can only address this one from a gardener's
> perspective....unfortunately, not a culinary perspective.
> > 
> > There are LOTS of roses out there.  Even in the
> Middle Ages, there were LOTS of roses out there.  Some
> varieties are more known for their smell, or their making of
> those fruity rose hips, or for sturdiness in different kinds
> of weather.  For example, the Eglantine Roses which
> bloom only once a year, make up some incredibly dense,
> thorny hedges - that get covered with lovely blooms at the
> right time of year, teeny things but the foliage smells like
> fresh tea.  You could make rose water from their
> flowers, but sadly, it would smell more like - well, tea -
> than what we imagine as "rose smell."
> > 
> > The Damask Roses, on the other hand, bloom usually
> once a year in late spring to early summer, and are known
> for loose, full petals and sometimes really BIG quantities
> of these, - and the heady smell folks imagine when they talk
> about "smelling of roses."  The Romans had them,
> too.  And they are still grown in profusion on large
> farms in Europe (I understand Bulgaria has thousands of
> acres of this crop) specifically to harvest the petals for
> making rose oil, rose water, and all kinds of other rose
> stuff.
> > 
> > So, I could conjecture that Damask Water would come
> specifically from Damask Roses - and that while every Damask
> Water is also a Rose Water, every Rose Water would not
> necessarily be a Damask Water.
> > 
> > Clear as earth?  Hope this helps!
> > Aeruin ni hEarain O'chonemara
> > Meridies
> > who has a collection of Old Roses in her yard, that
> are just now starting to bloom nicely....
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