I recently bought charcoal soap. I bought it at the Dollar Tree because it caught my eye. It is Irish Spring brand though.
What is it used for? I guess I can tell you all, I use deodorant soap. For the past 15 years or so I have had a problem with under arm odor, even when I wash regularly. And I do a variety of things to deal with it, including using Irish Spring.
And I recently got rose and orange blossom water, this time at a local grocery store. Again it caught my eye. I remember 25-30 years ago I got this book on really old English recipes. And they used rose/orange water a lot back then, possibly due to the tainted taste all food had pre-modern refrigeration. I should also tell you, in metro Detroit (where I live) we have a very sizable Arab population. And I think that they use both a lot.
Again I was hoping you could help me find a way of using them.
I think “charcoal soap” is just a normal bar of soap with activated charcoal added to it, and you can just wash your face with it as usual. Genuine “carbolic soap” is mildly deodorant/antibacterial, but also potentially more irritating due to the carbolic acid.
I thought about the flavoured water, and I suppose you could use it in sweets, if you like baking. Add some to your cookies or macaroons, or ask your Arab buddies what they like, to get some ideas.
For the flavored waters, there are a number of Indian sweets which use one or the other. For me, a little rose water goes a long way, so make sure you use only what the recipe calls for, and not a smidgen more.
I bake with lavendar and the first time I made something I was a bit heavy-handed with the lavendar. Oops.
Try allrecipes or BBCFood for recipe suggestions. I generally favor cakes or quick breads as they are also easy to share with coworkers.
It’s a really common urban legend (that medieval people spiced their meat to hide the rotten taste). It’s false, like you said (rotten meat will make you sick and the same is true of humans centuries ago) but man, this one sticks around!
I’ve had a number of rose water desserts, made by friends from various south Asian countries, and offered to me as the greatest treat. I feel terrible because I hate the flavor and find it nauseating. Orange flower water is barely tolerable as a flavor, but exquisite as a fragrance.
Reminds me of being a military kid in Spain, and how the Spanish kids always smelled deliciously of orange blossom water in the mornings on the school bus.
It’s got English, French and Arabic script on it, with an American nutritional though. No directions or suggestions are given. BTW I think I bought it at Kroger, if that helps.
