Rosehip recipes, of this Time and Place
Rosehip moon waning, many jars fermenting - concentrated sunshine, medicine and memory.
Some of the jars are bubbling. Some of them are sticky with honey. All of them - concentrated sunshine, in rosehip form.
Final days of this Rosehip Moon. I’ve been watching the crescent wane as I’ve travelled across Djaara country in Victoria, this week, the moon rising later and later into the night.
I check on the moon every morning, as soon as I wake in the pre-dawn. There it is. There she is.
I’m so enjoying this emerging knowledge, for myself. No matter what country I’m on, the moon can be found. Learning which part of the sky to ponder, in the pre-dawn light. Feeling the month wind down. It is becoming a heart clock, of a different kind.
Landing for the last few days in Naarm / Melbourne, I was lucky to be offered a bed in a warehouse in Coburg by dear friends.
Coburg feels like the centre of the rosewater universe, amongst all these Lebanese, Syrian and Afghan grocers. Damask rose (originating in Iran, or Palestine, depending on who you speak to) bushes sighted out the front of many homes, down side streets. I wave to each of them as I pass.
And here, I also realise, at least half the community is waiting for this particular moon to end. Paying close attention. Waiting for the new crescent to be sighted, in just a few short days. The end of Ramadan. The end of dawn-till-dusk fasting.
The beginning of Eid-al-Fitr, the blessed feast. Eid Mubarak!
The end of Ramadan is defined by the first sighting of the crescent moon, and is how the ‘new moon’ is defined in Islam. Billions of people, all over our planet, are watching this particular moon wane, more closely than normal, perhaps. And dreaming of the feast to come. I’ve heard that the last days of Ramadan can be hard, especially for families. A whole moon of all-day fasting. Respect.
I imagine Coburg will be a very happy place next week, with Eid-al-Fitr celebrations and feasts everywhere. The Eid Mubarak! (blessed feasting) decorations are already popping up in every felafel shop.
May the rosewater flow freely here next week, and all bellies be full of goodness.
But I’m heading home, with the remains of the small bottle of Rosehip Elixir I brought with me to keep my heart whole, to greet the dark moon back on melukerdee country. I wish i could stay. I can’t wait to get home.
But to the recipes.
Can i just say that all of these concoctions, as I’ve been tasting, sipping and licking as they progress, are SO super delicious.
I cannot believe I didn’t have rosehip firmly in my daily life, before this time. Well, that’s fixed, now.
I sourced these recipes from various places, and modified some slightly, to try and retain as much of the raw rosehip goodness as I could (vitamin C to the max, yo).
Where a recipe called for boiling the rosehips, and I decided I could get away without that step, I did. So some of these recipes contain slight variations on trad (or just popular) rosehip and rose petal preps.
Nothing has exploded on me yet, which is a good sign. And as you’ll see, the ingredients are all pretty simple.
ALSO - I believe you can substitute dried rose hips for fresh ones, in all these recipes, at a pinch. Just re-hydrate them with a bit of water first.
Rosehip Heart Elixir
A rosehip, honey and brandy elixir, gathered with respect, made with love, strained many times, and to be taken as drops under the tongue, when the hear is sore, or carrying heavy weight, and needs fortification. Delicious, fragrant medicine.
I adapted this recipe from the Herbal Academy, keeping the rosehips raw and adding a touch more brandy to ensure everyone didn’t ferment too much.
Rosehip Heart Elixir, part 1:
2 cups rosehips (stems removed as much as possible, but don’t stress)
1.5 cups of raw honey (warm it a little before adding, if it’s super solid)
3/4 cup of brandy (good-ish quality if possible, not the cooking stuff)
Add all ingredients to a blender-like thing. We have a Ninja bullet, so I used that.
Blitz slowly, and the mix should mush up. If not, add a splash of water to help things along.
Once fully mushed, pour into a big jar, and label with the time of month, and what it is.
Leave on kitchen bench at room temp for half a moon, shaking (or upending) daily. Admire. Open and sniff, occasionally. The put the lid back on.
Rosehip Heart Elixir, part 2:
After half a moon (or up to a whole moon) of daily shaking, it is time to Strain. Do not be in a rush for this part.
The main thing here is that within rosehips are many small and tiny hairs, of a fibreglass kind. You do not want these in your throat. Not even a little bit.
So… straining this mix very well is key. It does take a while, but you will be happy for the rest of the year that you took that time.
Straining: you can either strain multiple times, through successively finer sieves, or go all-in, if you have some good strong cheesecloth.
I used a not-fine strainer (first round) to remove the big bits, and then poured the strained mix back though a colander w cheesecloth in it (second round).
And squeeeeeze the cheesecloth, to get all the drippy goodness out.
The rosehip goop you are left over with could be put in vodka and left for a month and then strained, if you like. Or you could feed the goop to the chooks, or compost.
The elixir you will be left with is syrupy, red, and entirely amazing. Bottle up into smallish brown-glass bottles with a dropper, and label.
Ideally, leave these bottles for 3 months before using - but if times need it, start using immediately.
A dropper-full under the tongue when the heart is heavy, or you need a pause, is a wonderful and precious thing. I think this stuff is what the word ‘Elixir’ was made for, personally. You will also get a vitamin C hit, as a bonus.
This elixir will keep until next rosehip season, if it lasts that long (unlikely).
Share bottles with loved ones, and let them know how precious they are.
Notes:
This prep can look a LOT like passata, with all the red mush and seeds showing through, which is also common in kitchens in Autumn. Label to avoid confusion.
Double batches work well.
The first batch of this that I made, I kept on a sunny windowsill. That may not have been the best thing re UV and vitamin C, but I really loved that the bottle was warm and sunlit as it steeped.
Rosehip Nalewka
(Polish vodka medicine - kinda like a tincture)
1 cup rosehips (freeze them first, if you can, this will help them macerate in the vodka)
1 cup vodka
1/2 cup honey
Put the rosehips in a clean jar, and pour vodka over.
Leave the jar on the kitchen bench for a whole moon, shaking daily
After a moon has passed, strain well. Give rosehips to chickens.
Add 1/2 cup of honey to the vodka/rosehip mix, and leave on bench for a minimum 3 moons, shaking whenever you remember.
This nalewka improves with age (like us all) so maybe put some aside for the moons to come.
Take rosehip nalewka as needed. Zuza Zak, the author, writes that her mum would take a shot of this each morning. Can’t argue with that.
From Slavic Kitchen Alchemy by Zuza Zak
Rose petal Nalewka
As above, but use rose petals in place of rosehips.
Can be strained after half a moon, once the petals have given up all their colour.
Rosehip Cheong/Hipilo
Rosehips fermented in honey. Can also be done in sugar, same recipe. Yields a cordial of sorts. Mine is still brewing.
Equal weights of rosehips, and raw honey. Or sugar.
I used raw leatherwood honey, because that’s how we roll in lutruwita, and because it is delicious.
Combine ingredients in a jar with a good lid, and sit on the bench for a moon, shaking daily.
You may need to release the lid daily after a while, to let any fermenty gasses out. Lick fingers as needed.
The mix will slowly ferment, and mush, and bubble. To ensure it all mushes together, you could smush the rosehips first, or freeze them prior to using. I did neither of these things, but now wish i had.
After a moon or so, everyone in the jar should be fermented and bubbly.
Strain, (see fine straining notes above in Elixir recipe) - and there you go.
A simple, raw, fermented rosehip cordial - Cheong in the Korean tradition of such things, Hipilo in the Italian tradition. Delicious in all contexts.
Sam Black, whose recipe I followed for this, is super generous and has many useful things to say about rosehips. He also shares generously on instagram, and has a great book, The Fermentation Kitchen. I love his work.
Other Rosehip things, on the make
Rose petals packed in stringybark honey (still steeping, will strain after 3 moons - recipes differ on steeping time from 2 days to six weeks, so I’m trying 3 moons, because I can)
Rosoliu (rose petal liqueur) is steeping
Trays and trays of rosehips are drying, whole, for winter teas.
I’m also keen to make rosewater and other rose petal based things, but this season is a time of rosehips. A few flowers, here and there, but mostly the hips.
When early summer rolls around, I will bring my attention back to the petals, and learn some more from the rosa.
The month winds down. The last sliver of moon is *just* visible, in the east, right before sunrise.
For the last quarter month, the moon has been ‘leading the sun across the sky’ - until tomorrow (ish)… more the next day, actually - when they will rise together.
Dark moon. New moon. No moon. Time of consideration.
My astrological friends counsel against decisions at this time of the month. Wait till the new moon is visible, just above the western horizon in the evening sky, at sunset, as it’s thinnest crescent. Eid Mubarak!
Wait until the moon is sighted ‘following the sun across the sky’. And only then, proceed with whatever you have planned, and decided.
And feast. In whatever form that looks like for you.
With rosewater sprinkled over everything, to make it even better.
I’ve also been loving the practice of doing a cyanotype a day, on this road trip I’m just at the end of. Fast and scrappy, with whatever is available.
And a moment of meditation in amongst the business of travel and friends and speaking engagements. Good learning for me. Breathe out, just for a second. Here they are -
‘I wave to each of them as I pass” thank you for that joyful image!