TIP OF THE DAY: Rose Cocktails For Your Valentine
 Toast your Valentine with a rose cocktail. If you can’t find organic rose petals for garnish, any edible flowers will do. Photo courtesy Chandon. |
In the Middle East, rose is a more popular flavor than chocolate. It’s used in beverages, candies, cookies and other baked goods, ice cream, jam and sorbet. The flower petals are turned into syrup. The flavor is quite glorious, and it’s a perfect pairing with sparkling wine.
Beyond Middle Eastern and Indian markets, there’s not much rose-flavored food in the U.S. (we occasionally find rose marshmallows at fine confectioners). But rose is a flavor that fits right in with Valentine’s Day, and fashionable mixologists create menus of rose syrup-accented cocktails. WHAT IS ROSE SYRUP? Rose syrup is rose water with sugar added—essentially, rose-flavored simple syrup. Rose water itself is distilled from rose petals as a by-product of the rose oil (attar of roses) produced for perfumes. First distilled by Muslim chemists in medieval times, both rose syrup and rose water add a subtle rose flavor and aroma to sweet foods. You can use rose water and sugar in beverages, but for confections and baked goods you need syrup, which won’t dilute the batter, dough, etc. |
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ROSE COCKTAILS Our favorite, easy rose cocktail is a Champagne Cocktail sweetened with rose syrup instead of the conventional sugar cube. There’s a Rose Martini recipe below. You can create other cocktails, or add the syrup to club soda for a mocktail. You can buy rose syrup in pink or clear hues, or make your own from rose water. You can whip it up in about 10 minutes and color it as light or deep rose as you like. If, after the first batch, you want even more rose flavor, exchange the tap water for more rose water. If you decide to distill your own rose water from rose petals (our friends with a large rose garden like to do this), note that only dark red roses impart much color; you may have to supplement with food color. RECIPE: ROSE SYRUP (ROSE SIMPLE SYRUP) 1. BRING the water to a boil. Add the sugar and dissolve, stirring constantly. When completely dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Do not over-boil. 2. ADD red food color as desired. 3. COOL, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. |
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RECIPE: ROSE MARTINI
Ingredients For 1 Cocktail bitters) strawberries or lemon twist 1. ADD ingredients including ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 2. Garnish and serve. |
 Rose syrup. Photo courtesy Royal Rose Syrups. |
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*Rose petals or other flowers used for garnish must be organic—not sprayed with chemical pesticides.
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