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Wartime rosehip syrup.
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fish (the other one)



Joined: 24 Dec 2006
Posts: 319

PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 12 1:53 pm    Post subject: Wartime rosehip syrup. Reply with quote
    



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.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 12 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

nice post

tis good stuff ,in hot water with a wee nip tis a proper tonic

T.G



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 12 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ooo Now this is timely I was looking at the hips midweek and thinking I ought to make a syrup, thank you

Green Rosie



Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 12 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just come in from picking some . I swear by rosehip syrup; the first sniffle I feel add a good glug to boiling water with the juice of half a lemon and imbibe.

DawnMK



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 895
Location: Buckinghamshire
PostPosted: Sat Oct 13, 12 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

might be picking some tomorrow thank you

DawnMK



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 895
Location: Buckinghamshire
PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 12 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for the post got mine done today



might get some more done during the week

fish (the other one)



Joined: 24 Dec 2006
Posts: 319

PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 12 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

looking good there dawn.one thing my mum used to do to make it a better colour was to add a chunk of beetroot to colour it then take it out,doesnt leave any taste but makes it redder.

Green Rosie



Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France
PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 12 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I actually prefer the paler one, perhaps because that is the only colour I have ever made.

Last edited by Green Rosie on Sun Oct 14, 12 6:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

DawnMK



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 895
Location: Buckinghamshire
PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 12 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

think it also depends on your hips, they are suppose to better after a good frost,
it tastes good

fish (the other one)



Joined: 24 Dec 2006
Posts: 319

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 12 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 12 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We'll be making this for the first time this year. I'm looking forward to finding out what it is like.

Green Rosie



Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 12 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

DawnMK wrote:
think it also depends on your hips, they are suppose to better after a good frost,
it tastes good


In that case could you freeze the hips and make the syrup later?

pookie



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 4984
Location: Mid-Wales
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 12 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sounds like a plan!

DawnMK



Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 895
Location: Buckinghamshire
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 12 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

now why didn I think of that, the point of the frost is it softens the berries making it easier to exctract there goodness, so I supppose poppin them in the freezer would have the same effect

Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 12 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Works on sloes for gin.

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