To Make Rosewater (for Cakes and Puddings)

“Gather the leaves (petals) of roses while the dew is on them, put them into a wide-mouthed bottle, and pour over some alcohol” – let stand till ready for use.” From Catherine Moffatt Whipple of Portsmouth, New Hampshire (1732-1783)

Rosa ‘Autumn Damask’

Modern Version

Pick roses that are free from pesticides (damask roses are wonderful). Cut the base of the petal off (where the petal meets flower head- it is bitter). Quickly rinse off the petals, pat dry. Place the petals in a sterilized jar. Fill any size jar halfway with petals. Add about one capful of any unflavored vodka. Pour boiling water over the petals. Close the jar (tightly!) and shake it. Place in a sunny spot for approximately three days. Uncap, and strain off the petals, putting the liquid in a clean jar. Refrigerate or freeze.

Use this rosewater as a flavoring in cakes, cookies, puddings, sauces, etc. If you freeze the liquid in ice cube trays, the cubes can be added to pitchers of water or ginger ale- it will add a little something special to your drink! In liquid form, spray to scent your linens or to scent your straw hat. Be adventuresome- have fun and experiment!

Baking with Rose Water

Monticello Symposium

Having just returned from a historic plant symposium at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, I was struck by two things. First, the amazing scientific mind of one of our country’s founders. Thomas Jefferson was a man far ahead of his time, as a gardener and a scientist (and not forgetting, as a politician). Secondly, how little we truly appreciate Jefferson’s contributions to our modern vegetable gardens. The kitchen garden (begun in 1770 and expanded to 1,000 feet in length by 1812) was a source of food for the family as well as a place where Jefferson experimented with “330 varieties of more than 89 different species of vegetables” over his lifetime. Some of the varieties he recorded were: Red Artichoke,  Scarlet Runner Bean, Arika Bean, Broccoli, Ox Heart Cabbage and Early York Cabbage, Long Orange Carrot Cauliflower, West Indian Gherkin, White Eggplant, Marseilles Fig, Green Curled Endive, Brown Dutch Lettuce, Citron Melon, Blue Prussian Pea, Leadman’s Dwarf Pea, Okra, Bullnose Pepper, Long Red Cayenne Pepper, Sesame, Sweet Potato Pumpkin, Prickly Seeded Spinach, Cymling Squash, the Alpine and Chile Strawberries, and tomatoes, just to name a few. 

 

Jefferson kept a thorough log of his plantings for over 20 years, his failures as well as successes. Believing that the garden was a vehicle for social change, his kitchen garden was an experimental garden. Jefferson

passed out seeds to friends and neighbors. He delighted in rare and unusual varieties. His garden broke with European traditions of esthetic, fussy gardens of hotbeds and greenhouses.

Jefferson embraced the Virginia sun and the longer growing season. His entire vegetable garden was a hotbed, with amended soil and rotated crops. It was new and revolutionary to have Mediterranean, warm season vegetables.  Again, this broke from the tradition of European gardens, which were labor intensive and employed an intense forcing of growing conditions with hotbeds and greenhouses built mostly for looks and esthetic reasons. Thomas Jefferson’s kitchen garden was about sowing the seed and bringing the various varieties to the table.

Photos by Katarina Eriksson

To start at the beginning

For almost 25 years, I have been lecturing about the American Revolution (from the British point of view) in Southern California schools. Many times an innocent question has sent me on a quest for answers. My fascination with Georgian food stems from one little girl’s question of what the British Officers ate (after explaining the ration system for soldiers). My curiosity piqued, I began searching for cookbooks, diaries, letters, etc. that might hold some answers. The more I read, the more I wondered about the tastes. For those who do not know me, I have severe food allergies. What this means is that I can cook and bake, but I can not taste the results. So, what to do. I work at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino, California. Thanks to the kindness of Clair Martin (Curator of Roses) and Head Gardener, Katarina Eriksson, I have been afforded the opportunity of a lifetime. I have access to heirloom fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive or utterly unavailable to me.

My First Post

Welcome! After years of being coaxed to write about my passion  for Georgian food and the 18th century, I have finally settled down to begin.

Rose and Ginger Ale Punch served by Katarina Eriksson

Pictured above is Katarina Eriksson, of the Huntington Library, serving a Rose Water punch.  In the near future I plan to post the receipt for this unusual treat.