Cooking with roses:
A few years ago I did a number of demonstrations for Nestlé and my trick in those days was to dip open-bloom roses into dark chocolate to decorate cakes and pavlovas. Readers still talk about (and make) them.
One of my favourite flavour combinations is coconut and rose water. You can turn this into a really decadendent coconut ice, sprinkled with a bit of gold dust for my twist on a traditional Indian sweetmeat.
One of my best things to do in my down time is to spend the morning at Chart Farm in Wynberg, picking the floppiest, sweetest smelling roses I can find.
They have a delightful farm stall where you can buy copious amounts of cherries during December when they’re in season.
They sell good old-fashioned toasted sandwiches, fluffy warm scones and wedges of moist carrot cake and chocolate sponge. Their icy pink milkshakes are also pretty hard to beat!
An Indian Falooda, called a Bombay crush in Durban, is my absolute favourite summer drink, especially when served with my favourite food: Cape Malay lamb curry.
Milk, crushed ice, subja seeds and a scoop of ice cream combine with hints of rose water for a real treat. I always use the recipe which was given to us by one of our readers, Kavendree Muthu-Kurten.
I think its time to revive the idea of roses in food and so here are a few ideas using rosewater for you to try
- Beat a few teaspoons into the meringue when baking a pavlova.
- Add a dash to steamed couscous with orange segments, pomegranate rubies and pistachios.
- Drizzle into creamy white chocolate for delectable ganache or chocolate mousse.
- Add as much as you like to a packet of berry jelly to jazz it up.
- Roast a tray of chicken wings that have been tossed into cinnamon, honey and rose water.
- And don’t forget to add that dash to a glass of bubbles.
Thanks again for all the snacking ideas that you sent to me last week; I’m glad the sausage rolls went down well!
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Enjoy!
Abigail
email me your flower recipe adventures at abigail.donnelly@newmediapub.co.za
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