TEHRAN - On Friday, a rosewater distillation festival kicked off in the ancient town of Saruq, which lies in the heart of the Iranian plateau.

At this time each year, tens of such events take the center stage in oasis cities, towns, and villages of central Iran where participants enjoy the spirit of full-bloom flower farms.

The festivals are usually running through mid-June notably in Kashan, Qamsar, Barzak, and Niasar; however, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, many traditional workshops are closed or practice their distillation without the presence of any visitors.

Golab or rosewater is obtained from a particular kind of Rose, known as Mohammadi roses in Iran. Harvesting flowers seems to be the most important part of the process. They should be picked from dawn through morning very carefully. The petals are put into massive copper pots and boiled, and then the extracted water is kept in special bottles. The longest the distillation is, the better will be the quality of the rosewater.

Golab is used nationwide in diverse traditional dishes to flavor them or consumed as a religious perfume as well. The holy month of Ramadan, which started yesterday, is one of the bestselling months of the product.

The distillation of flowers and herbs has a deep history in Iran. Many believe traditionally-distilled rosewater is of higher quality than that produced in factories probably due to shorter time intervals between the harvest and distillation practices.

AFM