By chance I spotted rose hips yesterday in a car park in sunny Aberaeron and they looked fantastic; they really looked good enough to eat.
This got me thinking about the uses of rose hips and how little I knew about them. I also remembered a post written this week by @gillianpearce. The red of the rose hip photo in her post was really stunning; the intense red colour contrasted so well against the green. One of the comments mentioned rose hip syrup.
We've got tomatoes growing in the greenhouse so I was reminded of them by this bunch of rose hips.
When I got home in the evening I read around the topic and to me the most interesting snippets of information were here. This is because the information given combined something I had heard of, ie some seeds need to be left and get 'winter chills' to activate them.
The most comprehensible article I read tackled (to some extent) a doubt I had about cooking food that's supposed to have vitamin C.
I have often wondered how much goodness is actually 'destroyed' during the cooking/preserving process. You can read more about rose-hips here.
Incidentally, do you make your own jam or preserves ?
I seriously considered going round collecting some rose hips at home, but the other day I made blackcurrant and blackberry jam. It was a lot of work 'topping and tailing' each of the hundreds of blackcurrants (it seemed millions at the time though).
My very old (guide)book, which was published in 1977, said to cook the fruit with water, soften and then add sugar.
The amount of sugar was the same as the weight of the fruit !! How healthy is that ? After all the boiling, it really made me question whether or not I should just try to eat the fruit raw, but then how do I keep the surplus?
Any constructive comments are always welcome.
Incidentally, I went to check whether that preserving book was still available, and found out that the author, Marguerite Patten, died aged 99 three years ago. The book is still available here.
all photos by @cryptocariad; and photo of old book cover
@cryptoccariad it looks like a tomato what kind of friut it is never seen before
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Hi @lays - perhaps you forgot to want to vote for this post that you have commented on, rather than just putting a comment to self-vote. It rather gives the game away.
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In the method used until 50 years ago for making jam etc. with sugar you take one part fruits and one part sugar. That's because the sugar is what preserves the jam. Nowadays there are gelling sugars available which contain pectin which helps getting a a non-liquid jam. Besides the usual 1:1 ratio there are sorts that use less sugar (2:1 or even 3:1) but they might not be storable that long - perhaps a year or two, not longer.
There is a sort of spread from fruits you can do without adding sugar, here in Germany we mostly use it for Plums. You just take the fruit and a bit of water and cook them for a loooong time till most of the liquid is evaporated. Traditionally it's deemed good when the wooden spoon can stand in it. Then the natural sugar in it is enought to preserve it. You can do that with every other fruit, too, even with mixed fruits. Unfortunately there will be not much left of the vitamins...
And regarding rose hips - there is a traditional way used in Swabia in the southwest of Germany. It lets them keep most of the Vitamin C:
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Thank you so much for sharing this information @muscara ! Yes, that type of preserving sugar (containing pectin) is also sold here and I have used it in the past, but this time I only had normal sugar.
I am certainly keen on using less sugar in the process !
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Gud post to share@cryptocariad
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Thank you, @hanseljoy
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:)
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If living to 99 isn't a recommendation of someone's recipes I don't know what is. I have never tried making my own jam, but I have made candied qumquts and that was basically boiling slices in a sugar syrup and drying at low heat. Interesting post.
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Indeed, I also thought about that @gmatthe2 - very partly due to following a more traditional way of preparing food without relying so on 'bought/convenience' food ?
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Jam and preserves are a lot of work. I remember helping my mom make cherry preserves and pitting the cherries was never ending work it seems. And I was little and probably not really doing much of the actual work :)
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This time of the year around where we live people are getting ready to present their delicious jams, preserves and chutneys in village fairs @steven-patrick. I am sure there is a market for people to give lessons on how they do it...
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Ah. Marguerite Patten. That brings back memories @cryptocariad.
Sorry i can't help you with your questions. I've never made jams or preserved fruits although I remember my auntie doing so when I was a child.
I particularly remember the plums we used to eat in Winter. In those days you couldn't buy out of season fruit so they were a real treat to have with custard as a desert. 😁
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That's the nice thing about preserving even if it's in a lot of sugar @gillianpearce :D
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Itching powder bush!! Have you had any issues with sideways images? Both @Artystuff and @missysheshe86 are struggling with sideways photos.
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Not yet @pumpkinsandcats... not sure why it happens :(
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Rose hips do look like tomatoes don't they? How about using honey? Or raw cane sugar or brown sugar, something healthier than white sugar? Although they are still sugar, but at least a healthier sugar maybe? Hehe.
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In order to make a jam you need to boil the fruit until it sets so sugar is normally used, @marblely. I tend to use the golden colour sugar anyway rather than the more refined variety. Honey would be okay for 'raw' fruit I guess though it would be a bit overwhelming for my taste.
Do you like jam ? Which flavour ?
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Ah ok.. Seems interesting to make jam. Do you have to wait long before the fruit sets? Ooo yes I do.. after trying a few like marmalade, peach, raspberry, blueberry, I still like strawberry (with scones... yummm).
Oh, will you be joining @ivan-g's boat making giveaway? https://steemit.com/origami/@ivan-g/origami-boat
2 more days to go. Come come!
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It is an interesting process and I'm not that familiar with it because I have to avoid a lot of sugar @marblely ... From what I know some fruit takes much longer but you can add extra pectin.
I think I'm too late for the boat challenge now ... but I'll enter even if late :D
As an update I have now uploaded two little boats for @ivan-g, thank you @marblely :D
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Hehe yay! It is not late yet, still a few more hours to go before the post payout.. I haven't posted mine but will do soon :)
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