Rose water

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Rose water
Golab being make in Meymand - Fars 21.jpg
Rose water bottles and rose petals
TypeFlavoured water
Place of origin Iran (Ancient Persia)
Region or stateAsia and Europe
Main ingredientsRose petals, water

Rose water or rosewater is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. [1] It is typically made as a by-product during the distillation of rose petals to create rose oil for perfumes. Rose water is widely utilized to flavour culinary dishes and enhance cosmetic products, and it is significant in religious rituals throughout Eurasia. Iran is a major producer, supplying around 90% of the world's rose water demand. [2]

Contents

Central Iran is home to the annual Golabgiri festival each spring. Thousands of tourists visit the area to celebrate the rose harvest for the production of rosewater. [3] [4]

History

12th-century rosewater bottle from Iran (silver with gold and niello, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) Rosewater bottle, Iran, 12th century, silver with gold and niello - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05289.JPG
12th-century rosewater bottle from Iran (silver with gold and niello, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

Since ancient times, roses have been used medicinally, nutritionally, and as a source of perfume. [3] 11th-century writings by Ibn Jazla state that rose water strengthened the gums and stomach as well as being an antiemetic. [5]

Geographer Al-Dimashqi wrote that his native Damascus exported rose water to much of the Arab world. Some sources state that it was exported from cities in modern-day Turkey and Syria to the Indian subcontinent and even China. [5]

Rose perfumes are made from rose oil, also called "attar of roses", which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam-distilling the crushed petals of roses. Rose water is a by-product of this process. [6] Before the development of the technique of distilling rose water, rose petals were already used in Persian cuisine to perfume and flavour dishes. [7] Rose water likely originated in Persia, [8] [9] where it is known as gulāb (گلاب), from gul (گل rose) and ab (آب water). The term was adopted into Medieval Greek as zoulápin. [10]

The process of creating rose water through steam distillation was refined by Arab and Persian chemists in the medieval Islamic world, which led to more efficient and economic uses for perfume industries. [11]

Uses

A decorative display in a small manufactory of rosewater in Kashan, Iran Golab being make in Qamsar - Kashan 26.jpg
A decorative display in a small manufactory of rosewater in Kashan, Iran

Food

Rose water is often added to water to mask unpleasant odours and flavours. [12]

In South Asian cuisine, it is a common ingredient in sweets such as laddu, gulab jamun, and peda. [13] It is also used to flavour milk, lassi, rice pudding, and other dairy dishes.[ citation needed ]

In Southeast Asia, sweet, red-tinted rose water is mixed with milk, producing a pink drink called bandung.

Rose water is used in various dishes, especially in sweets such as Turkish delight, [1] nougat, and baklava. Marzipan has long been flavoured with rose water. [14] In Cyprus, it is used to flavour a number of different desserts, including the local version of muhallebi. [15]

It is also frequently used as a halal substitute for red wine and other alcohols in cooking. [16] The Premier League, Bahrain Grand Prix, and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix offer a rose water-based beverage as an alternative for champagne when awarding Muslim players. [17] [18]

Cosmetics

In medieval Europe, rose water was used to wash hands during feasts. [19]

Religion

Rose water is used in religious ceremonies in Christianity (in the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church), [20] Zoroastrianism, and the Baháʼí Faith (in Kitab-i-Aqdas 1:76). [21]

Chemical composition

Depending on the origin and manufacturing method, rose water is obtained from the sepals and petals of Rosa × damascena through steam distillation. The following monoterpenoid and alkane components can be identified with gas chromatography: mostly citronellol, nonadecane, geraniol, and phenylethyl alcohol, and also henicosane, nonadecane, eicosane, linalool, citronellyl acetate, methyleugenol, heptadecane, pentadecane, docosane, nerol, disiloxane, octadecane, and pentacosane. Usually, phenylethyl alcohol is responsible for the typical odour of rose water but is not always present in derivative products. [22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Rosewater recipes". BBC Food.
  2. ↑ "Iran Meets 90% of Global Rosewater Demand". Financial Tribune. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "GOLĀB". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. XI (online ed.). Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. 2012. pp. 58–59. ISSN   2330-4804 . Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "Rosewater festivals draw visitors to central Iran". Tehran Times. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 Newman, Daniel (23 March 2022). "Spotlight on: Rose water (ماء الورد, ma al-ward)". Eat Like A Sultan. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Adamson, Melitta Weiss (1 January 2004). Food in Medieval Times. Greenwood Publishing. p. 29. ISBN   9780313321474.
  7. ↑ Adamson, Melitta Weiss (2004). Food in Medieval Times. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-313-32147-4. Rose petals were already used in Persian cookery to perfume and flavor dishes long before the technique of distilling rose water was developed. The person commonly credited with the discovery of rose water was the tenth-century Persian physician Avicenna.
  8. ↑ Marks, Gil (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. HMH. p. 791. ISBN   978-0-544-18631-6. About two centuries later, the Bukharan-born physician ibn Sina (980–1037), whose name was latinized as Avicenna, discovered how to use the still to extract the essential oil from flower petals. This allowed for the steam distillation of floral waters, particularly rose water
  9. ↑ Boskabady, Mohammad Hossein; Shafei, Mohammad Naser; Saberi, Zahra; Amini, Somayeh (2011). "Pharmacological Effects of Rosa Damascena". Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences. 14 (4): 295–307. ISSN   2008-3866. PMC   3586833 . PMID   23493250. The origin of Damask rose is the Middle East and some evidences indicate that the origin of rose water is Iran
  10. ↑ "Rose water" at Encyclopædia Iranica
  11. ↑ Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, Transfer of Islamic Technology to the West, Part III: Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries Archived 29 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine , History of Science and Technology in Islam.
  12. ↑ "All About Rose and Rose Water | how to use | health benefits". iran dried fruit. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Krishna Gopal Dubey (27 September 2010). The Indian Cuisine. PHI Learning Pvt. p. 11. ISBN   9788120341708.
  14. ↑ Adamson, Melitta Weiss (2004). Food in Medieval Times. Greenwood Publishing. p. 89. ISBN   9780313321474.
  15. ↑ "Rodostagma – Rosewater". Heartland of Legends. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023.
  16. ↑ "Rose passion fruit cocktail recipe". Erbology. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  17. ↑ "PL offers 'rosewater and pomegranate' drink instead of champagne to avoid offending Muslim players". Yahoo! News . 26 August 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Champagne to be sprayed on the F1 podium again after two years of sparkling wine". The Telegraph. 30 July 2017. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  19. ↑ Adamson, Melitta Weiss (2004). Food in Medieval Times by Melitta Weiss Adamson. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN   9780313321474. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  20. ↑ "Journey through Holy Week & Pascha". Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  21. ↑ Bahá'u'lláh (2005). Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Project Gutenburg. p. 23 of PDF (1:76).
  22. ↑ Loghmani-Khouzani, H; Fini Sabzi, O; Safari, J H (2007). "Essential Oil Composition of Rosa damascena Mill Cultivated in Central Iran" (PDF). Scientia Iranica. 14 (4): 316–319. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2012.
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