Rose water#Edible

{{Infobox food

| name = Rose water

| image = Golab being make in Meymand - Fars 21.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = Rose water bottles and rose petals

| alternate_name =

| type = Flavoured water

| country = Iran (Ancient Persia)

| region = Asia and Europe

| national_cuisine =

| mintime =

| maxtime =

| served =

| main_ingredient = Rose petals, water

| variations =

| serving_size = 100 g

| no_recipes = false

}}

Rose water, or rosewater, is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. 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.{{Cite web|date=15 June 2019|title=Iran Meets 90% of Global Rosewater Demand|url=https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/98443/iran-meets-90-of-global-rosewater-demand|access-date=16 April 2021|website=Financial Tribune}}

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.{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=GOLĀB |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/golab |access-date=24 March 2021|edition= online|year= 2012|publisher= Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation |volume=XI |issn= 2330-4804 |pages= 58–59 }}{{cite web |title=Rosewater festivals draw visitors to central Iran |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/423182/Rosewater-festivals-draw-visitors-to-central-Iran |website=Tehran Times |access-date=1 June 2021 |date=3 May 2018}}

History

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

Since ancient times, roses have been used medicinally, nutritionally, and as a source of perfume.

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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&q=rose+water&pg=PA29|page=29|title=Food in Medieval Times|isbn=9780313321474|last1=Adamson|first1=Melitta Weiss|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }} Before the development of the technique of distilling rose water, rose petals were already used in Persian cuisine to perfume and flavour dishes.{{Cite book|last=Adamson|first=Melitta Weiss|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&q=rose+water&pg=PA29|title=Food in Medieval Times|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32147-4|page=29|quote=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.}} Rose water likely originated in Persia,{{cite book|last=Marks|first=Gil|author-link=Gil Marks|title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC|year=2010|publisher=HMH|isbn=978-0-544-18631-6|page=791|quote=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}}{{Cite journal|last1=Boskabady|first1=Mohammad Hossein|last2=Shafei|first2=Mohammad Naser|last3=Saberi|first3=Zahra|last4=Amini|first4=Somayeh|date=2011|title=Pharmacological Effects of Rosa Damascena|journal=Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences|volume=14|issue=4|pages=295–307|issn=2008-3866|pmc=3586833|pmid=23493250|quote=The origin of Damask rose is the Middle East and some evidences indicate that the origin of rose water is Iran}} where it is known as gulāb ({{lang|pal|گلاب}}), from gul ({{lang|pal|گل}} rose) and ab ({{lang|pal|آب}} water). The term was adopted into Medieval Greek as zoulápin.{{iranica|byzantine-iranian-relations}}

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.Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2072.html Transfer of Islamic Technology to the West, Part III: Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229003136/http://www.history-science-technology.com/articles/articles%2072.html |date=29 December 2015 }}, History of Science and Technology in Islam.

Uses

File:Golab being make in Qamsar - Kashan 26.jpg, Iran]]

=Food=

Rose water is often added to water to mask unpleasant odours and flavours.{{Cite web |date=19 December 2019 |title=All About Rose and Rose Water {{!}} how to use {{!}} health benefits |url=https://www.irandriedfruit.com/all-about-rose-and-rose-water/ |access-date=30 December 2023 |website=iran dried fruit}}

In South Asian cuisine, it is a common ingredient in sweets such as laddu, gulab jamun, and peda.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4woRbF8irsC&q=rose+milk+origin+india&pg=PA11 |title=The Indian Cuisine| author=Krishna Gopal Dubey|date = 27 September 2010|isbn = 9788120341708|page=11|publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. }} It is also used to flavour milk, lassi, rice pudding, and other dairy dishes.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

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,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/rosewater|title=Rosewater recipes|website=BBC Food}} nougat, and baklava. Marzipan has long been flavoured with rose water.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&q=rose+water+marzipan&pg=PA29|page=89|title=Food in Medieval Times|isbn=9780313321474|last1=Adamson|first1=Melitta Weiss|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }} In Cyprus, it is used to flavour a number of different desserts, including the local version of muhallebi.{{Cite web |title=Rodostagma – Rosewater |url=https://heartlandoflegends.com/rodostagma-rosewater/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423200458/https://heartlandoflegends.com/rodostagma-rosewater/ |archive-date=23 April 2023 |website=Heartland of Legends|date=17 February 2023 }}

It is also frequently used as a halal substitute for red wine and other alcohols in cooking.{{Cite web |title=Rose passion fruit cocktail recipe |url=https://erbology.co/recipes/passion-fruit-rose-water-cocktail-recipe/ |access-date=26 January 2025 |website=Erbology}} 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.{{cite news|title=PL offers 'rosewater and pomegranate' drink instead of champagne to avoid offending Muslim players|url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/pl-offers-rosewater-pomegranate-drink-instead-champagne-avoid-075931651.html|access-date=24 October 2014|work=Yahoo! News|date=26 August 2012}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2017/07/30/champagne-sprayed-f1-podium-two-year-absence/|title=Champagne to be sprayed on the F1 podium again after two years of sparkling wine|date=30 July 2017|work=The Telegraph|access-date=14 January 2020|issn=0307-1235}}

=Cosmetics=

In medieval Europe, rose water was used to wash hands during feasts.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&pg=PA29 |title=Food in Medieval Times by Melitta Weiss Adamson |isbn=9780313321474 |access-date=11 February 2017 |archive-date=31 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031165257/https://books.google.be/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=rosewater+wash+hands+europe&source=bl&ots=9kkNUphMWa&sig=1PuXlTDI2ZvPUv9FeLtbViCFAZU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr8b7Bq4jSAhWDuBQKHe8FCNoQ6AEIPjAJ#v=onepage&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Adamson |first1=Melitta Weiss |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing }}

=Religion=

Rose water is used in religious ceremonies in Christianity (in the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church),{{cite web|url=http://www.holyapostlesgo.org/HolyWeek.asp|publisher=Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church|title=Journey through Holy Week & Pascha|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306211601/http://www.holyapostlesgo.org/HolyWeek.asp|archive-date=6 March 2012|url-status=dead}} Zoroastrianism, and the Baháʼí Faith (in Kitab-i-Aqdas 1:76).{{cite book |last1=Bahá'u'lláh |title=Kitáb-i-Aqdas |date=2005 |publisher=Project Gutenburg |page=23 of PDF (1:76) |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16523}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Loghmani-Khouzani |first1= H|last2= Fini Sabzi |first2= O|last3= Safari |first3= J H |date= 2007|title=Essential Oil Composition of Rosa damascena Mill Cultivated in Central Iran|url= http://www.scientiairanica.com/PDF/Articles/00000498/loghmani.pdf|journal= Scientia Iranica|volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=316–319 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320131725/http://www.scientiairanica.com/PDF/Articles/00000498/loghmani.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2012}}

Gallery

Golab being make in Meymand - Fars 11.jpg|Bags of rose petals being unloaded in preparation for steeping

Golab being make in Qamsar - Kashan 18.jpg|Water being poured into a container of rose petals

Golab being make in Meymand - Fars 08.jpg|A container being filled using a hose

Golab being make in Qamsar - Kashan 09.jpg|Containers of petals awaiting steeping, with one on the left closed and being heated to boil the water inside.