Rosehips, which ones?

[Ecoman]

I posted this originally in another thread but thought it was a bit of a cheeky hijack so decided to post here instead

I've never done anything with rosehips before. I remember my nan making stacks of rosehip jelly and I thought it was fantastic. I wouldn't min having a go at making some myself. The only rosehips I have found near me so far are great big fat ones like cherry tomatoes. The ones my nan used looked like the ones in blacktimberwolf's photo below. Can I use the fat ones or am I on the hunt for a specific variety?

the ones I have around me look like this...

 

[didicoy]

you need the ones in blacktimberwolf's photo. I make rosehip syrup.

 

[Toddy]

I use any of them. The only problem is that the big ones are more likely to be maggoted, so watch as you pick them.
You can actually just nibble the flesh off the big ones for a pleasant munchie when out for a wander; just don't eat deeply enough to get to the wee hairy bits and they're fine

Apparantly the further north they grow the higher the VitaminC content. British ones are pretty good that way

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ecoman]

Thanks for the info folks. I'm off out collecting haws this afternoon so I will keep my eyes open for some of the other types as well.

I might just spend an hour this evening, while the daughter does Taekwondo, collecting some of the larger ones too.

 

[mountainm]

I use any of them. The only problem is that the big ones are more likely to be maggoted, so watch as you pick them.
You can actually just nibble the flesh off the big ones for a pleasant munchie when out for a wander; just don't eat deeply enough to get to the wee hairy bits and they're fine

Apparantly the further north they grow the higher the VitaminC content. British ones are pretty good that way

cheers,
Toddy

What about the purple ones? Edible too?

Cheers

Mike

[EDIT]
From a gardening forum:

All rose hips are edible, but as noted above, not all taste good.
According to Liz Druitt ("The Organic Rose Garden"), the roses with the best tasting hips are: Rosa canina, Rosa rugosa rubra, Hansa, Old Blush, and Dortmund.

 

[Ecoman]

Thank you Mike, just the news I wanted to hear, It seems the rose is a Rosa Rugosa and I will be filling my basket tonight with them.

I'll let you all know how things turn out

 

[rg598]

I've only used the ones in the first photo. We only used them to make tea. We would dry and store them, and then boil them for tea.

 

[Toddy]

Rosehip syrup is a British standard and rosehip soup is a Scandinavian one

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ecoman]

My nan's rosehip jelly was legendary. In fact when we used to go to visit her we had a shopping list from the neighbours. She also made crab apple and rosehip jam, strawberry jam, rowan and apple jam too. Unfortunately all her recipes were in her head, I've managed to almost sus out a few but the rosehip one is one I have never tried as I don't know enough about them. Time to experiment mwahahahaha

 

[Toddy]

It's taken me a year, bit by bit, but I have totally redd out the elderly Auntie's recipe books and loose pages. It's been amazing the memories it brought back.
This Auntie is a married in one, the sister in law of my Uncle, yet she had managed to get my Grandmother to write out her recipe for the Gingerbread that I loved, and my cousins and I had bemoaned that we'd never gotten the recipe for because it was all in Gran's head.......you need to find the folks who asked for her recipes who were either of her generation or just a little younger; her friends, her work colleagues, or the ladies at the church, or the bowling green because they're the ones who asked for the good ones

atb,
M

 

[Ecoman]

Unfortunately she never told anyone any of her recipes. Even my mother guessed a few by watching over her shoulder. Its not that they were secret its just that she never measured anything and always did it by eye. I remember my mum and auntie sitting down with her one day with a pen and paper but they gave up when she couldn't describe how much of each ingredient she used. A typical recipe looked like:

2 eggs
about that much flour
a wee dash of vanilla
ooh that's about the right amount of sugar,

 

[Greg]

Interesting ...I didn't realise you could use the cultivated rosehips...must give this a go...good info folks

 

[Toddy]

I still bake that way

When friends ask for a recipe though, I write it down, just like my Gran did for her nephew's sister in law Modern electronic scales make it easy

Hear ? do you know that the daud is a perfect measurement, utterly understandable in any context ?
Try it; a daud of butter.....and we all get the same sized lump in mind, or a daud of venison, or a wee daud of cake or sugar or even cement or mud.
I first came across it when my bother said, apparantly as one does in the building trade (that one's a joiner ), "Geez a daud o' breid across", and his workmate gave him exactly the required amount. This was followed later on the day by, "Geez a daud o' thon silicon", and again, the amount was exactly as requested
Scale seems to matter though, because a smaller amount is a wee tate, as in a wee tate of salt or pepper.

Many of the old recipes I have are done in cups. Not the standardised American type cups, but in old fashioned china teacup sizes
Threw me entirely when I was given an American cookbook and looked in consternation at the miserable sizes of some things. "12 portions, from one and a half cups of flour", Then someone told me about their mug like 'cups'

cheers,
M

 

[Ecoman]

Ha ha ha made me chuckle but oh how true

 

[rik_uk3]

Good thread, I have several kilo of these ready to pick

 

[Ecoman]

I went out armed with a basked and a pair of gloves and then realised that the bushes still had flowers on many of the stems. I'm going to leave it for another week and have a look then.

Back to collecting haws

 

[Toddy]

It's been a funny year that way; we have flowers and ready to eat fruit on the same bushes. The hips are still edible though if you want to take them.

Interested in this rosehip jam someone mentioned. We have a glut and even my sons won't manage any more rosehip syrup, but jam would be interesting.
It's the wee hairs that cause grief to the gut that are the problem with a lot of the too quick recipes. Really, really, good straining is a necessity I reckon.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ecoman]

Yes it has been a bit of an odd one this year.

If I pick them early I would have to freeze and the refrigerate, freeze then refrigerate for a couple of weeks? From what I'm reading, they are better after the first frost or at the very least wait a week after the last flowers have died off.

I might just grab a basket full tomorrow and try them out anyway. The worst that could happen is I get rubbish jam!

I was planning on deseeding them before I start the cooking process although there are plenty of recipes out there that just say filter through a muslin bag.

 

[Toddy]

The deseeding is a right royal pain in the situpon to do properly.....and that's from a woman who did 3kgs by hand every year for twenty years.

These days I cheat. I gather them, rinse them, dry them, bag and freeze them, then I defrost and without mincing them up I just cover them in water and slowly simmer them. The juice all seems to come out fine and I don't have all the blasted seeds and hairs to deal with I strain them through a sieve and then through a paper towel lined one, and the juice runs clean

If, and it's a major if, you can get rid of the hairs, supposedly the seeds are nutritious. Certainly they yield an oil....now there's an idea, I wonder if they'd burn well ?
We might need to play

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ecoman]

Thanks for the advice, you have probably just saved me a few hours. Bonus!

Ooh I love experimenting. I'm going to have to get a load to see if I can extract oil and see what else I can use it for