an extract (rose water) Their aroma comes mainly from the terpene geraniol Roses are most often used in sweets, but are also found in the savory Moroccan spice mixture ras el hanout, and in North African sausages Screwpine or Pandan Screwpine is the aromatic, strap-like leaf of shrubs related to the lily family that are native to Indonesia (species of Pandanus) Screwpine leaves are used in India and southeast Asia to flavor rice dishes and sweets, and to wrap meats and fish Their primary volatile compound is the same one that gives basmati and jasmine rices their distinctive nutty aroma (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which is also prominent in the aroma of popcorn and of crabmeat) The screwpine flower is also aromatic and the source of a more perfume-like extract called kewra, which flavors many Indian milk sweets Sorrel Sorrel is the startlingly sour leaf of several European relatives of rhubarb and buckwheat that are rich in oxalic acid: Rumex acetosa, scutatus, and acetosella Cooks use them mainly as a source of acidity, and they also provide a more generic green aroma Sorrel readily disintegrates with a little cooking into a sauce-like puree that complements fish, but whose chlorophyll turns drab olive from the acidity The color can be brightened by pureeing some raw sorrel and adding that to the sauce just before serving Tarragon Tarragon is the small, narrow leaf of a native of western and northern Asia, Artemisia dracunculus, a member of the lettuce family The robust wild tarragon, often sold in plant nurseries as Russian tarragon, has a harsh and uninteresting flavor, while the relatively fragile cultivated form, “French” tarragon, has a distinctive aroma thanks to the presence of a phenolic compound called estragole (from the French name for the plant, ... from the acidity The color can be brightened by pureeing some raw sorrel and adding that to the sauce just before serving Tarragon Tarragon is the small, narrow leaf of a native of western and. .. northern Asia, Artemisia dracunculus, a member of the lettuce family The robust wild tarragon, often sold in plant nurseries as Russian tarragon, has a harsh and uninteresting flavor, while the. .. fragile cultivated form, “French” tarragon, has a distinctive aroma thanks to the presence of a phenolic compound called estragole (from the French name for the plant,