[Sca-cooks] rose petal preserves and other rose things

[Valleri Collins]

I made rose water, rose clay and rose oil last year out of the rugosa roses
that grow wild around here. The results were pretty amazing. I used a
slightly different variation on the rose oil process in the florilegium.
The one piece of knowledge I can pass on is that the petals will ferment,
so use a vessel that has a vent or airlock on it. Even thought you'd think
the opposite, exploding mason jars are absolutely no fun.  I also found
that the oil from the rose petals was heavier than the almond oil I used as
the suspension, so I have lovely fuschia rose oil sitting at the bottom of
the bottles. It's no problem if you shake them so the rose oil distributes
through the almond oil, but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

The rose water is fantastic. It's got a beautiful aroma and a nice
astringency. I also took about a pound of petals and made rose clay for
beads. That project was a little more interesting. To make the clay you
have to boil the heck out of the petals to get the fibers to break down. I
had to go through the process several times before I had a consistency that
was smooth enough to make nice beads. And the clay shrinks like crazy,
so you have to make the beads about three times larger than you think you
do.

I was busy this summer and didn't go harvest any new rugosas so no fresh
rose water this year. Hopefully next spring and summer I'll find the time
to get out and do it.

One other note, if you are harvesting wild roses, specifically in the
Pacific Northwest, no amount of washing will get all the little bugs off,
so they run for the hills once the distillation heat hits them. I had
little green aphids running around the top of the pot, even though I'd
soaked and washed the petals three times before getting started.

Mella Cassandra