ROSE HIP SYRUP..RECIPE..Winter Vitamin C

Rose Hips are ready between late August and November. They are usually in plentiful supply in the Uk...they are also here in France but the berries here are nowhere near as big.
However I did manage to collect a small supply today to make some Rose Hip syrup ready for the winter.

Normally rose hips are a bit of a fuss if you want to use them for desserts due to the pith being hard and the effort it takes to remove seeds and hairs!!!
During the war they were a real lifesaver here in the UK due to the lack of the usual sources of vitamin C and the Ministry of Health had a scheme for collection. The resulting syrup was sold at a controlled price and mothers and children could obtain it at reduced prices.

This is the recipe suggested by the Ministry of Food and it worked really well for me. I could only gather half of the fruit so just used half of the recipe.

Mince 900g of washed  rose hips in a coarse mincer and drop into 1.7 litres of boiling water. Bring to the boil then stop heating and leave for 15 minutes.
Pour into a jelly bag and allow to drip till most of the liquid has come through.
Return the residue of rose hips back to the pan with 852ml of boiling water and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Pour back into jelly bag to drip.
Check all sharp hairs have been removed and return to jelly bag if needed
Put liquid into a clean pan and boil until you have about 852ml of liquid. Then add 560g of sugar and boil for another 5 minutes.
Have ready sterilized and heated bottles or jars.Seal immediately. Small ones are better as the syrup will only keep for 2 to 3 weeks once it is opened. Store in a dark cupboard.
The syrup can be used in puddings,as a flavouring for milk or ice-cream or as when
I was young just taken as a teaspoonful each day.

 

Happy picking.......but remember the golden rule of foraging to is to check and double check you are picking the right kind of berry. You will know rose hips bushes as, like garden rose bushes, they have small thorns....and vicious little things they can be so you may want to wear some protective gloves.