There are few more delicate, fragrant and utterly romantic ingredients than this one. The name alone sounds gorgeous, but open a bottle and take a whiff, and the exotic scent will transport you to a world of perfumed sweetness and light.
Orange flower water is made by macerating bitter orange blossom in water, then distilling the broth. It's characteristic in the cooking of north Africa and other Mediterranean countries. And a beautiful ingredient it is, too - as long as you exercise the utmost caution: you want a barely identifiable hint of this stuff, not a full-on sensory attack.
This is the sort of product you buy for a single recipe, then leave languishing in the cupboard until well past its sell-by date. So here are a few ideas to make sure you use it all up. Stir a few drops into a mixture of mascarpone and whipped cream, sweetened with a little icing sugar, and use as a tart filling - perfect with strawberries. In fact, just sprinkling a few drops on sugared strawberries will enhance their sweetness. Or make a scented syrup by dissolving 200g sugar in 300ml water, boiling for five minutes, leaving to cool, then adding a little orange flower water; used sparingly, this syrup makes any fruit salad extra-special.
You can also add this delicate stuff to panna cotta, custard or mousses - it's particularly good with white chocolate. Also, if you find the flavour of rosewater overpowering, try replacing it in recipes with a whisper of orange flower. It's a little less like eating perfume.
As well as delicate, summery things, you can use orange flower water to enhance wintry fare - add it to any stodgy pudding that uses jam or marmalade, while a drop or two in rice pudding is nice, too. North African cooks use this distillate to finish off savoury dishes such as tagines, and food writer Kevin Gould once told me of a Moroccan salad of grated carrot, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkled with orange flower water and finished with pine nuts.
Various brands of orange flower water (also called orange blossom water) are available from Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco, as well as most good delicatessens. Do test before you use, though, because different brands vary enormously. I particularly like the Lebanese Cortas brand (from thespiceshop.co.uk), which is the only one I found that's pure orange flower distillate. It's very strong, very perfumey, very authentic. The English Provender brand (in Tesco and Sainsbury's) is totally different - sweeter and milder - but still lovely. Regardless of what a recipe says, however, 'add to taste' is always the best option.