Rose hip jam

Auf deutsch: Hagebuttenmarmelade.

I dedicate this posting to Geir Waage, who has planted many rose bushes in Reykholt. Maybe he will like to give it a try, and start a new trend in Iceland?

Jam lovers (like me :) appreciate this jam for its creamy consistency and fine flavour. It is great for filling jam ball donuts (Berliners, Krapfen), or on a slice of buttered bread or breadroll for breakfast.

Where I live, towards the end of summer, there are lots of rose hips at the side of the streets, so I could pick these berries easily and for free. In one hour I had a bag with about 2 or 3 kilograms of fruits. (Note: you need lots because each fruit is 80% seeds which you have to get rid of.)

Warning. Rose hip jam is the hardest jam of all to make. It can easily end in great despair or disaster. The real work is to separate the uneatable seeds from the good marrow. If you succeed, after a few hours of hard work in the kitchen you can end up with one of the finest products Mother Nature pampers us with.

How to make rose hip jam (recipe without quantities):

• Wash rose hips. Remove buds and cut the hips in half.
• Boil with just enough water and keep stirring to keep the mixture from scorching. In the course of the following steps you will have to gradually add more water to keep it in a usable consistency while it thickens.
• Use a blender (Mixer) to make it into something that looks like spaghetti sauce. Keep cooking and stirring it.
• Use a food mill (Flotte Lotte) to separate the seeds from the marrow. Repeat this step as many times as needed to get all the seeds out -- this is the really tough work.
• Use a sieve and doughscraper to get the last of the solid parts (tiny hairs) out.
• Add sugar (I used 3:1 jam sugar, Gelierzucker, so it won't be too sweet) and lemon juice to give it a little acidity. Boil.
• Rinse clean jam glasses and screw caps with boiling hot water.
• Fill in the boiling hot jam to the brim, close cap tight and place upside down on a tray to cool.
• The next day, wash off the glasses, let dry, write labels, and decorate the cap with a circular piece of cloth and string.