In todays BBC web news a very short and very general short BBC video with historical traveller. It gives “scale” of operation.
May not work
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I have wondered if any hybridization has been done to try and increase yields. (I suppose remontancy would degrade the quality of oil as seasonal weather affects such. No point in a second harvest of poor quality at the expense of the main havest.)
If these plants are not all clones, I suspect there could be de facto some field hybridization as poorly producing plants get culled, but I don’t know… (I doubt there is any possibity for collecting royalties for such, and money drives most endeavors, alas.)
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Most surprising to me is that, afaik, plant cell culture has not been commercialized for the production of rose oil. The value of rose attar is high enough to motivate commercialization so it’s a mystery to me why not.
There has been a lot of work done on using tissue culture for propagation but it has been an on-again, off-again thing. This paper gives a discussion about it.
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Interesting. I wonder how much demand there would be for rapid expansion of that crop. I would imagine the availability of affordable seasonal labor might be the main limitation – more so than the need for more plants from which to harvest. I would imagine the harvest is pretty resource-intensive. It is apparently a ridiculously low conversion rate from poundage of rose petals to ounce of distillate.
(I also wonder if they find other uses for the stills in the off season! Could probably creat some interesting spirits with such.)
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l remember having an interesting “curry” chat with a cabby in the UK last year. The driver had an origin’s culture that identifies with “curry” dishes (as labelled by the British “inventors of it” ?? ).
I griped about following the recipes of dry heating the spices but never got a powerful flavour - doubled measures in desperation (without resorting to the heat of chilli peppers - not a spicy ingredient flavour).
Eventually resorted to making my own mixes with emphasis on pastes - used the book recipes by the UK’s “curry guy” author ( Thai version).
The cabby mentioned after sussing out if l was punter or not, that in his curry version’s he takes to work the secret ingredient was not something like saffron, but “rose water”.
It must be in it to make it perfect was his insistence. Raged about his secret ingredient. There was no prior conversation about “roses”.
Naturally picked up a bottle of rose water to try from the Eastern food section of the “cultural” aisle - jury still out. Assumed it was natural. Fragrance strong.
Tipped him heavy. Now l wonder whether l should shake the piggy bank and go high octane attar of rose.
There’s a huge difference between rose water and attar, at least in terms of potency, and I don’t think that attar would likely ever be used as a food ingredient at home (too great a risk of rose OD). I would definitely stick to the more easily dosed rose water. I’ve used it for many years, and it is delicious in some things–particularly drinks and sweets–but I have to confess that I have never thought to try it in savory dishes like curries (the other spices used in combination might be just as important a consideration, so it might not be something to chuck into just any old recipe).
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I agree with @MidAtlas , try the rosewater not attar!
But also maybe try adding dried rose petals. They are used in indian cooking too, especially to make garam masala. There are many recipes online.
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Okay txs advice heard, but l am stubborn, but would only micro-pipette a drop or two, with garburator on hot standby.
Massman would be first candidate due to of the earthy taste … red yellow and greens would probably be prime candidates due to softer taste of protein type.
Btw the Thai restaurant l favoured during days gone bye lunch hour was named the “Rose Garden”.