Lynn Strong

This story started with Ashar’s rose chai and the idea that there should be more Prince Charmings in the world of different ages and colors and body types and confidence levels, but I needed something for Ashar to call him other than his own name. (Ashar is still pretending that as long as he never says Rahat’s actual name aloud, there is some resemblance of plausible deniability.)

I’m also absurdly fond of rosewater in sweets ranging from my friend Kathleen’s amazing chocolate-cardamom-rosewater truffles to ice cream toppings to medieval-to-modern confectionery like rahat al-hulqum. And while the stuff doesn’t always come in rose-reds, I loved playing with the imagery.

As a person with multiple disabilities, though, it’s often hard to cook anymore. So I haven’t personally cooked Yumsome’s variation on rahat/lokoum, but I loved the story they told about their encounters with it throughout their life and why rose is their favorite variation too.

For those of us who are low on spoons but still interested in tasting it, Liberty Orchards sells them in winter (though they’re currently out) and Koska also sells it through Amazon.

The origins of the phrase go back to 9th century Arabic medicinals for sore throats, though the candy version is mostly traced to a particularly ambitious confectioner who made a viral hit long before there was social media.

(The image here is from When Feta met Olive.)