the well-known flowering shrubs of the genus Rosa, can be traced back to ancient Persia, Egypt, Babylon, and China. More than a score of species are recognized; and there are almost innumerable hybrids and cultivars. The petals of most species can be eaten or used to flavour food, either directly or in the form of rosewater (a fragrant flavouring obtained by the distillation of the petals); and the fruits (known as rose-hips or haws) of many species are edible. Species which are good sources of petals or rosewater include:
For the Greeks, from whom many of the relevant legends come, the rose was a symbol of love, beauty, and happiness. The Latin word rosa comes from the Greek word for red, rodos. The Romans, who associated the rose with Venus, goddess of love, scented their wine with rose petals.
Roses had probably first been cultivated, several thousands of years ago, in Persia. It is known that Persia was making and exporting rose wine from rose petals as long as 2,000 years ago. In Iran rose petals are still preserved in jams or dried to be used to perfume many sweet dishes. The dried petals are also added to the spice mixture advieh used in flavouring savoury dishes.
In medieval England they were used to flavour butter (which can also be flavoured with rosewater). Rose-petal jams, conserves, sorbets, and drinks have been and still are made in Europe. The French town of Provins in Champagne is famous for its rose-petal jam. In Turkey rose petals are boiled in water to flavour loucoum (Turkish delight), and in India they are put into a heavy syrup to make gulkand, a rose-petal preserve which is used with betel leaf for cutting bitter aftertastes and refreshing the mouth. In China, flower heads of the red China rose, R. semperflorens, are sometimes cooked whole as a vegetable.
Crystallized rose petals used in western countries are more of a decoration than a flavouring.
The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans managed to extract fragrance from the rose by steeping petals in water, oil, or alcohol. And it is probable that the technique of distillation of rosewater evolved in the 3rd and 4th centuries ad in Mesopotamia.
By the 9th century Persia was distilling rosewater on a large scale. It is, however, usual to name Avicenna, the famous physician of the 10th century, as being the person who discovered rosewater. It was in his time that the use of rosewater as a flavouring for food came into vogue in the lavish and sumptuous cuisine of the Arabs. It was used to flavour a variety of dishes and was even sprayed over the surface of the cooking pot.
The use of rosewater spread to Europe via the Crusaders. It was, for example, popular in medieval England. Rosewater was also a favourite flavouring of the Ottoman Turks and they in turn introduced it to Bulgaria, where the Valley of the Roses at Kazanluk is famous for its production of rosewater, oil of roses, rose-petal jams, and preserves.
Water distillation is the oldest method used to extract the fragrance, and rosewater is still produced in this way in many eastern countries. The technique has been summarized by Helen Saberi (1993), who points out that the same method can be used to obtain rose oil, known in English as attar or otto of roses, derived from the Persian atr, meaning perfume or essence.
Nowadays, however, steam distillation is the preferred method of obtaining attar of roses, as it produces a more delicate and fragrant oil.
Rosewater is still used extensively all over the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. Famous rosewater-flavoured dishes include Turkish delight and many other sweets and desserts of the Middle East and India (see, for examples, shola; baklava; firni; halva). Rosewater can also flavour beverages such as lassi and sherbet.
Rose-hips or haws, the fruit of the rose, have been eaten as a fruit in Europe and Asia and by the Indians of N. America. The vaselike receptacle of the fruit contains seeds covered with irritating hairs, so it has to be emptied before it is edible. Or the whole fruit can be boiled to make a sweet, slightly perfumed syrup. Species whose fruits are used both in Europe and Asia include the briar rose or dog rose, R. canina, which is made into tea or tisane, and the eglantine, R. eglanteria.
Rose-hips are remarkably rich in vitamin C. When, during the Second World War, the British diet lacked fruits providing this vitamin, schoolchildren were sent to gather rose-hips, from which a syrup, issued as a dietary supplement for small children, was made. Rose-hip syrup is still sold, especially for babies.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Saberi, Helen (1993), ‘Rosewater, … and Asafoetida, …’, in Walker (1993).
