I was wondering what to blog about next. Well last Friday I went foraging at the Welsh Harp in NW London, next to Brent Cross Shopping Centre. This is a beautiful tranquil place in the middle of suburbia, and a welcome change to the shopping next door. Anyway I digress. I went to pick rosehips, which I had seen in abundance when I went the previous week to pick hawthorns for the haw biscuits. I started picking from the various bushes by the main road and gradually worked my way along the path. First tip, rosehips come from bushes and have thorns. An obvious observation, but one I did not heed. The cuts and scratches have now faded, but recommend wearing gloves in future. I also tried cutting them with scissors, which might be an option though getting to some of them was a pain.
I was walking along the path, when I saw someone else picking rosehips. I thought this was someone I had gone foraging with at the Welsh Harp before, but on closer inspection it wasn’t. By this time my starring had aroused curiosity and I entered into conversation. Low and behold it was a lovely lady called Bo (Bozenna) who had driven over from Islington especially to pick rosehips for her homemade rosehip liqueur. Well, I couldn’t let this year go by without trying another alcoholic recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilogram rose hips
- 300 grams brown sugar
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- Shredded lemon peel (from 1/2 lemon)
- 1,5 liter brandy
Method:
Wash and clean rose hips, mix them with sugar and let them stand in cold place over night.
sugar covered rosehips
Next day, pour brandy over rose hips and sugar, and add cinnamon, cloves and shredded lemon peel in it. Cover the dish with rose hip liqueur in it and let it stand 2 weeks in light place.
Strain the liqueur, pour it in the liqueur bottles and let it stand 4 weeks more before you serve it.
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