When I first moved to PEI, I assumed I would be able to find the same food favourites I had always enjoyed. But that first Christmas, I was so disappointed to discover that Islanders had never heard of rosehip jelly or jam. I asked at every retail grocery store, and people looked at me like I had two heads. "Never heard tell of such a thing" is all I I was told.
My cousins, who live in Kitchener Ontario, home of all things German flavoured, took pity on me and have been sending me jars of the good stuff every Christmas since.
Last week, I found a recipe for rosehip jelly in the local paper (I guess some Islanders really have heard of it) so I decided to give it a try.
I went out on the Confederation Trail in Charlottetown and found lots of big juicy lovely rosehips. As I was picking, people walking the trail stopped to ask what I was up to. One guy even asked if the hips were some kind of vegetable. They are actually a bright red seed pod that develops on rugosa roses after the petals fall off. I was careful not to pick them all, because I know that birds eat them too.
I took home about 4 pounds, and got to work.
I rinsed them, and then cut off the scraggly end, and then cut them in half, revealing a very seedy inside. If you want to make jam, you need to scrape out all the seeds so that just the outside coloured part is left. I quickly realized that is far too much work.
I boiled the hips in two batches, for an hour. Use enough water to cover. Place the pulp in a jelly bag, and let it drip overnight. Add the juice and rind of an orange and a lemon. Add a cup of sugar for every 1.5 cups juice, plus a box of Certo.
I boiled it for the amount of time directed on the label, and produced 6 bottles. The colour was lovely, but the next day, it still had not set. Back to the drawing board. This time, I added a prepared bottle of rosehip jam to the mix, and boiled it 20 minutes. The jam turned out kinda rubbery and a bit too hard. But the flavour is amazing. Tangy with orange and lemon and an undefinable something special.
Now that I have tried it once, I will definitely be trying again. Next time, I will nail down exactly how long to cook the stuff. But I'm sure glad I gave it a try. Now my dear cousins don't have to break the bank to send me jars of my favourite jam.
PS. I made a few more batches, and at last, I know what I'm doing. Here it is in a nutshell:
1. Pick 2 pounds of rosehips, wash and cut off ends, cut in half.
2. Cover with water. Boil one hour.
3. Put pulp in jelly bag to drip overnight. If not much liquid, pour some boiling water on top of the pulp in the bag.
4. Measure 4 cups juice. Add juice and rind of 1 lemon and two oranges.
5. Mix in one package of Certo light.
6. When it comes to the boil, add 2 cups sugar. Boil 20 minutes.
7. Test jam by putting a bit on a saucer kept in the freezer. Return it to the freezer for 2 minutes, and check the amount of jelling.
8. Fill canning jars.
