Before: Pink Rose Petal Jam

Gul receli or pink rose petal jam, soft and runny, with a blossom or two suspended in its translucent depths is sublime. How to make this fragrant preserve, subtly perfumed with the scent of old roses? It transforms simple watermelon slices or plain white cheese into ambrosial fare.

Among the 20 native species that grow in Turkey, the Isparta rose a.k.a rosa damascena is "world renowned for the production of rose oil and rose water. " Fergus Garrett in Istanbul: The Collected Traveler, an astonishing city guide, edited by Barrie Kerper, (if you're going to Istanbul, this is the one book you must have) notes that, in any "decent Turkish garden," one will find "pink roses grown for the kitchen.... highly scented and rich in essential oils".

He includes his mother's recipe for this exquisite jam, made from rose petals from her own garden in Yalova, a resort town across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul.

Sublime!