Rose water
Rose water is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. It is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia. Rose syrup is made from rose water, with sugar added.
Origin
The cultivation of various fragrant flowers for obtaining perfumes including rose water may date back to Sassanid Persia. Locally it was known as golāb in Middle Persian, and as zoulápin in Byzantine Greek.
The modern mass production of rose water through steam distillation was refined by Persian chemist Avicenna in the medieval Islamic world which lead to more efficient and economic uses for perfumery industries. This allowed for more efficient and lucrative trade.
Since ancient times, roses have been used medicinally, nutritionally, and as a source of perfume. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians considered large public rose gardens to be as important as croplands such as orchards and wheat fields.
Rosewater (disambiguation)
Rosewater is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals.
Rosewater may also refer to:
People named Rosewater
Fictional characters
- Eliot Rosewater, a character in the novel
See also
Rosewater (film)
Rosewater is a 2014 American drama film written, directed and produced by Jon Stewart, based on the memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy. It recounts Bahari's 2009 imprisonment by Iran, connected to an interview he participated in on The Daily Show that same year; Iranian authorities presented the interview as evidence that he was in communication with an American spy. Due to the content of the film, Stewart has been accused by Iran's state TV of being funded by Zionists and working with the CIA. The film was released in theaters on November 14, 2014.
Plot
In 2009, London-based Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained in Iran after he reports on violence against protesters of the country's presidential election, as well as giving a satirical interview with Jason Jones of The Daily Show. While his pregnant fiancée waits for him, Bahari spends 118 days at Evin Prison being brutally interrogated.
Bahari is usually blindfolded while being interrogated, and his interrogator's sole distinguishing feature is that he smells of rosewater.
