My knowledge of rosehips up until a few years ago, was that as a child my mother used to crush up the seeds to use as itching powder on her siblings. The whole idea of turning them into something edible seemed incredibly daunting. That was until I found my ‘foraging feet’, so to speak. I certainly know more about rosehips now than just their itching powder potential!
For example, rosehips have been found to contain twenty times more vitamin C than in the same weight of oranges. They were particularly useful for Britain during the Second World War when supplies of citrus fruits were pretty much cut off. In fact the recipe that I use is based on one released by the Ministry of Food in 1943.
ROSEHIP SYRUP
Wash 450g Or 1lb of rosehips thoroughly
Bash them with a pestle and mortar or coarsely mince with food processor, dropping them straight into 1.5litres of boiling water.
Bring them to the boil again, turn off and set aside for 20 minutes.
Pour into a flannel in a sieve and leave to drip over a seperate clean pan until most of the liquid has come through.
Return the rosehips to the first pan with another 325 ml of boiling water, bring to the boil and then stand for 10 minutes.
Pour into a flannel, in a sieve over the second pan and allow all the liquid to drain.
Discard of the rosehips and boil the drained liquid until it has reduced down to 2/3 of its original volume.
Add 400 g of granulated sugar and boil for 5 more minutes.
Decant into sterile bottles and seal at once.
SERVE WITH:
Rice pudding(or other milk puddings), porridge, ice-cream, pancakes, waffles, or diluted as a drink.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
Be careful with the sharp hairs on the seeds of the rosehips, these are what cause them to be itchy on the skin. Make sure you have filtered the syrup to remove these fully, because they are a dangerous internal irritant!
Pick and use the rosehips straight away – the sought after vitamin C depreciates with time!
Use small bottles for your syrup, as once opened, the syrup will not keep for more than a couple of weeks. I used Lakelands 100ml glass bottles with screw cap lids.
Store the syrup in a cool dark place.
Mrs Sloan Queen of Scones 