Chefs and Top Snack Brands Are Discovering the Ancient Allure of the Rose
Curio Spice Co.’s Moroccan damask rosebuds and a spoonful of rose harissa from Spicewalla.
Photographer: Naila Ruechel for Bloomberg Businessweek
Few would dispute the beauty of a rose, and its fragrance is almost universally adored. But as an ingredient in food and drink? Well, it’s much harder to find consensus. “You have to be careful with rose, because it can be like eating perfume,” warns pastry chef Michael Laiskonis in The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.
Lately, though, chefs and food companies have embraced what the ancient Greeks called “the queen of flowers.” Jeni Britton, founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, says, “Rose has been building momentum for years.” She should know. Her first ice cream was Bulgarian rose, and the top-selling flavor of her new line of fiber bars, Floura, is raspberry rose.