Under the category of “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet”, Mistress katherine kerr shares her adventures in the arts of the stillroom.
“A lady of worth should smell sweet, so it is a pleasure to use plants from the garden and spices from the kitchen to make a tisane suitable for my hair, my face and my linens.
I like having a nice-smelling spray when I’m ironing my linen garb, but the recipes for Queen of Hungary Water always seem chockful of ingredients. As a starter, I decided to try Acqua de Lavenda, from Gioventura Rosetti’s Notandissimi Secreti de l’Arte Profumatoria , a book of 30 cosmetic recipes published in Venice in 1555.
I poured 2/3C of acqua vitae (in this case plain vodka) over 1/2C of dried lavender flowers from my garden, and let the mix steep in a screw-top jar for three days. (Countdown had jars with my KK sigil on them!)
To the resulting dark brown solution, I then added 1/4C of rosewater, 3 sticks of cinnamon and 6 cloves. Rosetti has the liquid distilled in an alembic, which I didn’t have. So I sealed the jar tightly and placed it in a pot of gently simmering water for around 15 minutes.
The jar’s metal lid showed a pleasingly indented form, indicating it was sealed with a partial vacuum. From there it went into a dark cupboard for four weeks for more steepage.
The mess was strained to remove the soggy lavender and spices, producing a dark honey-coloured tincture. The scent is on the spicey, rather than lavendery side, much to my approval. I look forward to trying it as a hair rinse or ironing spray — probably diluted with water 1:3 or 1:4 times, as seen in the smaller bottle.
I now have a jar of Queen of Hungary Water currently steeping away in the cupboard , but I think the liquid to plant matter ratio may be wrong. I’ll know in a couple of weeks.”