Rosehips & memories....
When discussing shared memories with M, I've always noticed that there is a real difference between how we remember things. He will be able to remember the exact year, month and sometimes (especially if football is involved), the exact day (and usually corrects me too!). I, on the other hand, can never remember when things happened (quite often I can't even get the decade right) but can recall with intense detail the emotions, the smells, my thoughts, and colours at random points throughout my life.
Some of my most treasured memories are those of times spent with my mother and grandmother (Oma, in Dutch). Growing up in England, our visits to Holland were very special and I have many happy memories of times there, a lot, of course revolving around food. One in particular is of rosehip syrup, vividly swirled into snowy white yoghurt. We were told that it was good for you but it was never a chore to eat and is still something that brings back memories of sitting at the table watching my much loved Oma adding just a touch more to mine and my brother's delight.
Rosehips are easy to identify (although it's recommended to take a guide if you are not sure), are wild, free, packed full of vitamin C and are reportedly good for arthritic joints. In order to protect this bounty however, the wild or dog rose has covered the seeds inside the hips with tiny irritant hairs. To ensure that you don't include these in your syrup, it's important to strain the juice through a double layer of muslin (or clean tea towels).
Rosehip Syrup
450g rosehips
600g caster or granulated sugar
water
small bottles with lids or corks
Wash the rosehips and remove any stray stalks and then either blend with a (strong and robust) hand blender or place in a bag and bash with a rolling pin. The rosehips are pretty sturdy, so be careful! Bring a pan of 700ml of water to the boil and add the rosehip pulp. Bring the water back to boiling then cover and take off the heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes strain through a jelly bag lined with a double layer of muslin or a folded clean tea towel and leave to drip for an hour. Repeat this process again with the pulp and then leave to drain overnight. Take the combined juice from both and add to a pan with the sugar and boil for 2-3 minutes before bottling and sealing whilst still hot (making sure that your bottles and lids/corks are sterilised too). Use small bottles and once opened store them in the fridge. It should keep about 5/6 months if left unopened.
Some of my most treasured memories are those of times spent with my mother and grandmother (Oma, in Dutch). Growing up in England, our visits to Holland were very special and I have many happy memories of times there, a lot, of course revolving around food. One in particular is of rosehip syrup, vividly swirled into snowy white yoghurt. We were told that it was good for you but it was never a chore to eat and is still something that brings back memories of sitting at the table watching my much loved Oma adding just a touch more to mine and my brother's delight.
Rosehips are easy to identify (although it's recommended to take a guide if you are not sure), are wild, free, packed full of vitamin C and are reportedly good for arthritic joints. In order to protect this bounty however, the wild or dog rose has covered the seeds inside the hips with tiny irritant hairs. To ensure that you don't include these in your syrup, it's important to strain the juice through a double layer of muslin (or clean tea towels).
Rosehip Syrup
450g rosehips
600g caster or granulated sugar
water
small bottles with lids or corks
Wash the rosehips and remove any stray stalks and then either blend with a (strong and robust) hand blender or place in a bag and bash with a rolling pin. The rosehips are pretty sturdy, so be careful! Bring a pan of 700ml of water to the boil and add the rosehip pulp. Bring the water back to boiling then cover and take off the heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes strain through a jelly bag lined with a double layer of muslin or a folded clean tea towel and leave to drip for an hour. Repeat this process again with the pulp and then leave to drain overnight. Take the combined juice from both and add to a pan with the sugar and boil for 2-3 minutes before bottling and sealing whilst still hot (making sure that your bottles and lids/corks are sterilised too). Use small bottles and once opened store them in the fridge. It should keep about 5/6 months if left unopened.
Yay! The recipe! :o)
ReplyDeleteA lot of my memories involve food, too. Like eating fresh peas in my grandparents garden or my Oma spreading butter on a piece of white bread and then sprinkling some sugar over it as a sweet treat.
Just one question, just to make sure I understand. Do you boil the pulp twice with 700ml of water each time?
Thanks again for giving my button a place to live, I have made one for you out of your header to keep on my blog, hope that's okay!
Hi Annika, yep, 700ml (or thereabouts) each time and don't squeeze the bag of pulp incase any hairs come through. We used to have a Dutch crispbread with butter and sugar too, haven't had one for ages, might see if it still lives up to the memories! Thanks for the button, I'm still learning so am embarrassed to say I haven't yet figured that one out yet!
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