From the Farm: New year begins with taste of rosehips, scent of rose petals

Jan. 1, 2024 marked the 135th Tournament of Roses Parade televised from Pasadena, California, a fragrant tradition of flower-constructed floats launched in 1890 to usher in the Rose Bowl college football game. Only during the wartime years of World War II and the pause of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic has the annual event ever been interrupted.

From 1956 to 1974, Betty White served as the annual broadcast announcer for the Rose Parade. Betty died on New Year’s Eve 2021 just three weeks before her 100th birthday.

I’ve had roses on my mind for the start of the new year since this weekend is the Feast of Epiphany, celebrated Jan. 6, and the start of Mardi Gras recipes and revelry, including the filled jelly doughnuts of Polish pastry pride called paczki. Along with prune filled paczki, the other ages-old filling favored of yesterday is “sugar rose-petal” filled paczki.

Our farm neighbor friend Ann Scamerhorn, one of the organizers for the Polish-American Cultural Society of Northwest Indiana, told there are still a few local bakeries around Chicagoland with these rose-petal filled paczki sold during these weeks before Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, the latter which will be on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, this year.

The filling used for rose petal paczki is a jelly made from cooking down the pink fragrant petals of wild roses (single petals as opposed to the layered open hybrid roses used for floral arrangements) with sugar and a splash of water and lemon juice to create the jelly filling.

Rose petal jelly is often confused with jelly made with rosehips, the large bulb filled with seeds that develops after a rose has blossomed and the flower remains on the stem and bush to dry. Since we have a number of rose bushes at our farm, rosehips are plentiful by late fall. Of course, any stems which remain after a rose has been cut will not produce a rosehip to harvest later.

I’ve seen jars of rosehip jelly sold in stores around Chicagoland, usually in gourmet specialty shops and European markets. Rosehip jelly is easily made by simply harvesting the rosehips and removing the stems, along with any foliage, before cooking them down with a little water to collect the liquid after the pulp is strained. The liquid is added to sugar and boiled until a syrup and then pectin is added as the thickening agent for the jelly to set up for proper consistency for spreading.

While rosehips can be eaten raw plucked from bushes, much like a berry, care should be given to only eat the outer pulp of the bulb and not the inside, since the seeds are nestled in tiny hairlike fibers which stimulate irritation. It is these tiny inside “hairs” which are collected, dried and ground to make “itching powder” sold in practical joke shops as a popular prank since the powder induces itching when in contact with skin.

Dried rosehips are also popular to create home-remedy teas since rosehips contain carotenoids, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene. For centuries, many have insisted rosehip tea helps to reduce arthritis pain and treatment for knee osteoarthritis.

Rosehip is also the flavor of the popular soft drink Cockta, which launched as a competitor for Coca-Cola in Yugoslavia (now the country of Slovenia) 70 years ago in March 1953.

While sweet, delicate and tasty, rosehip jelly is not favored by all, especially those who despise the strong fragrant scent of the spread. The University of Minnesota Extension office has an easy recipe for rosehip jelly with simple, basic steps and ingredients.

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa @comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.

Rosehip Jelly

Makes 6 pints

4 cups rosehip juice from 1 pound of rosehips

7 1/2 cups sugar

1 box (2 pouches) liquid pectin (6 ounces)

Directions:

• To extract needed rosehip juice, start by removing blossom remnants and stems from rosehips.
• Wash rosehips in cool running water and place in large stainless steel pot with just enough water to cover them.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until soft.
• Cool and strain through cheesecloth or a damp jelly bag.
• One pound of rosehips provides close to 2 cups juice.
• Measure juice and stir in sugar. Place on high heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a full, rolling boil.
• Add the liquid pectin and heat to a full boil. Boil hard for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat; skim off foam.
• Pour jelly into hot, sterilized half-pint or pint jars to 1/4 inch of top. Seal with two-piece canning lids.
• Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.