Ingredient: Flower Power | Organic Rose Syrup

By Carla Ranicki

You usually can't find rose syrup, outside private homes in the Italian countryside. But Isabella Devetta took an old Ligurian recipe from her grandmother and the flowers outside her Tuscan house and began producing her Organic Rose Syrup commercially. She handpicks petals from hundreds of bushes early in the morning, when their fragrance is the most pronounced. The deep pink syrup has a potent aroma and a delicate flowery taste. Her grandmother diluted it with water to make a refreshing drink; the syrup can also be used to top vanilla ice cream and sweeten fruit salads and Champagne cocktails ($20 from Purely Organic, 877-201-0710 or www.purelyorganic.com).

Published March 2004