Wartime rosehip syrup.

[fishfish]

This week we have been very busy harvesting rosehips for our store cupboard,Rosehips dont keep long unless dried properly,by far the easiest method of preserving is to make a syrup of them,we have manges around 15 pints so far with plenty more to do.
During the world war they were harvested by the tonnes from the English hedgerows. A s citrus fruits were off the menu for the war years vitamin c had to be found and believe it or not the humble rosehip was the answer and yielded more vitamin c than oranges!
Rosehip syrup is great as cordial,drizzled over pancakes or just by the spoon full as a tonic.
Here is the recipe that i use as did my mother and grandmother during the war years:

Pick 3 lb of rose hips,ideally after the first Autumn frost,wash and then mince with a coarse mincer add to your pan and pour 4 pints of boiling water over them,bring to the boil then let stand for twenty minutes.
Next pour into a some fine muslin or pillow case and allow to drip until the bulk of the liquid has come through,then return the residue of the hips to the saucepan, add one and a half pints of boiling water, stir and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Pour back into the jelly bag and allow to drip through. To make sure all the sharp hairs are removed, put back the first half cupful of liquid and allow to drip through again. Put the mixed juice into a clean saucepan and boil down until the juice measures about one and a half pints, then add one and a quarter pounds of sugar and boil for a further 5 minutes. Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal at once,if using corks scald them and seal with paraffin wax.

The Hedgerow Harvest, Ministry of Food , 1943

thanks for looking.

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Love rose hip syrup! Really easy to make too.

I wrote a recipe on my blog about two years or so ago http://www.badgerbushcraft.com/wild-food/how-to-make-rose-hip-syrup-and-vodka.htm

 

[oldtimer]

I remember collecting these as a child and taking them to school where they were supposed to be collected and sent away to help the war effort. We soon learned that the inside hairs could be separated and dropped down the neck of the child sitting in front to provide hours of amusement.

My mother and I tried making syrup but she thought the hairy bits had to be separated out before any other preparation and the job was so fiddly that we gave up. She clearly hadn't read the instructions properly, but then my mother was a lousy cook. My father preferred my cooking as soon as I started at the age of eight even though I experimented with some awful dishes. Anyone for cheese and jam pasties? Once my grandmother had told me about Cornish pasties containing a savoury and sweet course, I was away.

I might have a another go at rose hip syrup with the grandchildren if I can find a way of stopping my grand daughter trying out the itching powder trick on her brother. I've noticed that we have a terrific crop this year (rose hips, not grandchildren).

 

[MartiniDave]

I've made about 3 litres of it so far this year. Drinking it like a hot squash, diluted about 15 to 1 to keep our vitamin c levels up. Very nice drizzled on ice cream too.

Dave

 

[treadlightly]

I remember collecting these as a child and taking them to school where they were supposed to be collected and sent away to help the war effort. We soon learned that the inside hairs could be separated and dropped down the neck of the child sitting in front to provide hours of amusement.

My mother and I tried making syrup but she thought the hairy bits had to be separated out before any other preparation and the job was so fiddly that we gave up. She clearly hadn't read the instructions properly, but then my mother was a lousy cook. My father preferred my cooking as soon as I started at the age of eight even though I experimented with some awful dishes. Anyone for cheese and jam pasties? Once my grandmother had told me about Cornish pasties containing a savoury and sweet course, I was away.

I might have a another go at rose hip syrup with the grandchildren if I can find a way of stopping my grand daughter trying out the itching powder trick on her brother. I've noticed that we have a terrific crop this year (rose hips, not grandchildren).

Oh yes, I remember that. Itchy bobs, we used to call them. Great fun.

 

[Joonsy]

Hi, i fancy making some of this rose hip syrup, i don't have a blender or a grinder though so can i just mash them up with something like the bottom of a bottle or something to break them down before boiling or is there another way to break them up or is it not really feasible to make it without a blender/grinder, also do you not have to remove the hairs prior to boiling and just rely on the filtering itself to remove the hairs, and how long do you simmer the syrup for and hence know when it is ready for bottling. thankyou.

 

[MartiniDave]

You might try a pestle and mortar, but they are quite tough little blighters. Chopping might work.

Dave

 

[Joonsy]

You might try a pestle and mortar, but they are quite tough little blighters. Chopping might work.

Dave

Hi Martinidave, thankyou for reply, just watched a youtube video where they just cut the hips in half, might try that, never done it before so i guess first time is experimental, thanks.

 

[robin wood]

There is an interesting fact about vit c which I seem to remember reading was discovered when they tested batches of syrup made by schools during war. We all know vit c is destroyed by heat and folk used to think that the longer you cooked something the more vit c you would loose, but you need to get the hips soft which takes a while. What they found was that once at a boil it didn't affect vit c content if you boiled long or short. The time it denatures is on the way up and on the way down so as the recipe says pour boiling water on em don't put in cold and bring the water up to boil. Same goes for potatoes dropping them into boiling water preserves the vit c.

 

[Joonsy]

There is an interesting fact about vit c which I seem to remember reading was discovered when they tested batches of syrup made by schools during war. We all know vit c is destroyed by heat and folk used to think that the longer you cooked something the more vit c you would loose, but you need to get the hips soft which takes a while. What they found was that once at a boil it didn't affect vit c content if you boiled long or short. The time it denatures is on the way up and on the way down so as the recipe says pour boiling water on em don't put in cold and bring the water up to boil. Same goes for potatoes dropping them into boiling water preserves the vit c.

Hi Robinwood, thats interesting, so put hips to already boiling water and cool quick as possible too.

 

[treadlightly]

There is an interesting fact about vit c which I seem to remember reading was discovered when they tested batches of syrup made by schools during war. We all know vit c is destroyed by heat and folk used to think that the longer you cooked something the more vit c you would loose, but you need to get the hips soft which takes a while. What they found was that once at a boil it didn't affect vit c content if you boiled long or short. The time it denatures is on the way up and on the way down so as the recipe says pour boiling water on em don't put in cold and bring the water up to boil. Same goes for potatoes dropping them into boiling water preserves the vit c.

Didn't know that. Will remember next time I'm cooking the spuds.

 

[oldtimer]

Wow. You learn something every day on this site. For years I have been putting vegetable including potatoes in cold water and bringing to the boil in the belief that it shortened cooking time and consequently preserved fuel. Perversely, I never do this with pasta which I always put into boilng water except when I'm camping when I do put it in cold, bring to the boil and (since reading a tip on this site) put into a cosy to finish off. This method really does save fuel.

The moral: You need the challenge the things you do habitually from time to time. I used to have students to do this- learned more from them than they did from me I sometimes think.

 

[sandbender]

There is an interesting fact about vit c which I seem to remember reading was discovered when they tested batches of syrup made by schools during war. We all know vit c is destroyed by heat and folk used to think that the longer you cooked something the more vit c you would loose, but you need to get the hips soft which takes a while. What they found was that once at a boil it didn't affect vit c content if you boiled long or short. The time it denatures is on the way up and on the way down so as the recipe says pour boiling water on em don't put in cold and bring the water up to boil. Same goes for potatoes dropping them into boiling water preserves the vit c.

Interesting stuff, thanks.

Always look forward to one of the many aunts or uncles from Transylvania popping over, apart from sausages, honey and plum brandy, they always bring a big jar of rose hip syrup.

 

[fishfish]

Interesting stuff, thanks.

Always look forward to one of the many aunts or uncles from Transylvania popping over, apart from sausages, honey and plum brandy, they always bring a big jar of rose hip syrup.

what no garlic? lol

 

[sandbender]

what no garlic? lol

That too.