Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Drink your roses - make rosolio

I'm reading another book by the same author from whom I got the Asparagi alla Milanese recipe. This one is called, Libation: A Bitter Alchemy and, no surprises here, it's about the origins of different drinks, written in a series of essays.

And wouldn't you know it, before you even hit page 50, there's already a recipe I want to try out using my roses. You see, I've already made rose jam and rose potpourri and I'm hankering to try something new. So, when I ran across the recipe for making rosolio, an Italian liqueur made with rose petals, I knew I wanted to give it a whirl. My brother is the master of making his own lemon liqueur, limoncello, and I've always wanted to try doing it. I've never had rosolio, but it sounds rather tempting and, most importantly, super easy to do. There are other recipes online for making rosolio, but this one sounds way more tasty to me.

Here's the instructions from the book (p. 37):
Pick roses at the hottest point of the day - red roses, for they will impart more color and flavor to the alcohol. (If you do not have your own rose garden, I recommend procuring your roses from a friend or a local grower so that you can be certain that the blooms have not been treated with any chemicals.)

Separate the petals from the flower. Trim the white edge at the base with a knife or scissors. Weigh out 1.75 ounces petals, then steep the petals in a jar of 190 proof (95 percent) pure grain alcohol with a vanilla bean in a large canning jar. Close the jar and set aside in a dark place for two weeks. After two weeks, strain the liquid, removing the rose petals and vanilla bean.

Prepare a simple syrup by dissolving 1 pound sugar and 3.25 cups water. Add the simple syrup to the alcohol, return the mixture to the jar, and store for another two weeks. At the end of those two weeks, filter and bottle. After your first tasting, more simple syrup can be added if desired to cut the hotness of the alcohol and suit your taste.

If you get cracking now, you'll have enough rosolio to give away for holiday gifts this year!

8 comments:

Green Fundraising Ideas said...

That sounds great! Now if I can just get your brother to teach me to make limoncello!

Nonie said...

That sounds fabulous! And what a timely post! I was just about to go prune the roses ... lots of red blooms out there (and yellow and white and pink ...) Thanks!

Lisa Carroll-Lee said...

Nuts! My roses have already finished blooming. OK, next season.

Greenpa said...

At the hottest part of the day? Hm. I have a distinct recollection that roses gathered for perfume making are picked before the sun hits them in the morning.

I could be wrong, for sure, and there might be other reasons.

More study is called for, I think. :-)

I've paid attention to the fragrance of roses for a very long time. My mother was very fond of them, and my father tried to grow some, wherever we were. It was pretty tricky in Guam and Hawaii.

For me it was the fragranceS. Great differences between types, all fascinating, but some just paralyzingly wonderful.

So. I loathe and abominate the beautiful roses in the cooler at the florists and the grocery store. Beautiful; yes; but all but odorless. It offends me, hugely. I know that sounds weird, and probably pretentious- but it's the real truth.

A rose with no fragrance is an unforgivable insult to the universe.

Good luck with yours! And shop around for some different fragrances. If anyone near you has old-fashioned roses- check into it.

scifichick said...

This sounds absolutely delicious! Too bad I don't have roses or a friend with roses :( But, when I do, I'm looking forward to making this!

Tammie Lee said...

Wow, thank you for this. I love eating roses, have since I was a child and my mother taught me to. As soon as the small wild pink roses bloom they will go into this recipe.

Unknown said...

I agree with greenpa- I like roses. But only the ones that grow in gardens, preferably with a nice frilly open look to them.

I am going to try making the rose liquor!

Tammie Lee said...

I made this recipe and it is wonderful! I will make it again come summer. I used wild rose petals from the forest. The vanilla actually over powered the roses, so next time I will double the rose petals. Thanks so much for sharing this.