A Sweet Floral Food Trend

By Carrie Pais
Metrocurean contributor


One
of my favorite food trends is the use of floral waters. Often used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, orange blossom,
lavender and rose waters are making an appearance in restaurant
kitchens across the country. The flavor that these delicate waters bring
to the table is typically subtle, but pronounced enough to provide a
unique and alluring dimension to what you’re eating or drinking. A
little goes a long way.


When used properly, floral waters offer
the kind of flavor that will have you wondering what that hint of
something is, without immediately being able to figure it out.


The
sky is the limit, really, when it comes to incorporating floral waters
into recipes. That’s the fun of it. They can be used to enhance salad
dressings, desserts and beverages to name a few.


I recently chatted with Farhad Assari, the owner of the popular Sauca food trucks, who shared his recipe for Sauca's signature "limunad" (pictured above). The refreshing drink adds a touch of orange blossom water to a homemade limeade. Check out the recipe for Sauca's limunad here.

A few more dishes that deliver a floral fix around DC:


• Indique Heights' rice pudding with orange blossom water

• Kababji Grill's namoura cake made with semolina and rose water

• Kellari's baklava with rose water syrup

• Solar Crepes' tea rose petal preserves crepe

• Zaytinya's lemonatha, sparkling lemonade infused with orange blossom










Carrie Pais is a freelance writer and blogger (Clover & Honey)
with a passion for travel, good food and the written word. Carrie has
been living in DC for over 10 years, and works full-time as an
advertising and marketing account director.