And I have no idea what to do with them.
None. Nada, zero, zilch, zip. Well, actually, that's not quite true, I do know that you can make jam with them, but when, how, and with which part?
You may possibly be thinking right now that I am a bit of a rosella novice. And you could be right. In fact I only bought the seed packet last year on a whim, I don't think I thought anything would come of it, as so many, many whims in my garden have had nothing come of them.
But I was wrong, and this time it's a right wrong, because whatever it is I have done with the rosellas, I have done good.
So good in fact, that they are actually growing enthusiastically outside a garden bed in which I hold absolutely no recollection of ever sowing rosella seeds.
Figs, beans, mulberries, and now rosella, the tables are turning my friends.
I am becoming at one with my garden.
And evidently quite comfortable with italics as well.
13 comments:
Oh Ali, sorry I can't help. The only Rosellas around here have feathers on them. But congratulation on all your gardening success ...and the use of italics. I tried to make some of this message in italics but couldn't make it work. You are way ahead of me!
Ali, you and your exotics...Im off to look up what a Rosella is now...and here I was thinking it was commoney associated with tomatoe soup in a can, and nice sauce on a sausage in bread...oh, and the bird of course....x
The tables have turned indeed! Yay!! I have no idea what Rosella is though...I am keen to find out what you do with it!
hi i found it could be a viral illness then i found this page http://momgarden.blogspot.com/2008/06/rosella-plant.html
well done you i can't wait untill i am one with my garden
I should think it might be Rosella-ing too - you'd be really annoyed if it was Okra-ing for instance ;-)
You know that this Rosella - the plant not the bird nor the disease - is a member of the mallow or Hibiscus family? Of course, at least you do now.
OK so the best possible and probably only use for Rosellas is as jam or jelly. Jelly is jam without the fruit, so you make a sort of jam first and drain off the liquid and after some fiddling, that becomes jelly. Jam is simpler.
This is the time of year it is made, Rosellas like all summer to grow. You pick those fascinating red pods. You use the outside part for the jam itself and you cook the seed and stem separately to make pectin to jell the jam.
It's tough on the fingers, you peel the part you can see (the outside) away from the seed which is in the bottom near the stem. I think botanically the outside part is the calyx - the flower left some time ago, you know a Hibiscus flower when you see one and they are out for only one day so they are easy to miss.
Anyway ... when you have a large saucepan full of the calyxes, rinse them well. Then cover the calyxes with clean water and bring to the boil covered (lid on). Then remove the lid and keep them boiling until they soften and everything turns a delightful shade of red. In another saucepan put in the washed seeds and stems and cover with water - you can add apple cores with seeds, lemon or orange peel as well. Ditto until soft.
Once the calyxes are soft (and this applies to any jam) you add one cup of sugar to each cup of pulp. The pulp is quite tart and it is a lot of sugar but you need it. You can add the water from the seeds etc at this point taking that into account for adding the sugar.
Stir the sugar in well over a low heat to dissolve it slowly. Then you start to boil the jam and this is where it can be a tad tricky. After about an hour or so, stirring btw so as not to stick to the bottom, you can test for jelling. This is getting complex so next move for you is to search the net for Jam Making instructions ... there's bottles to sterilise as well. I've given you an overview of what is required. Some time and being around to check on the progress.
In a nutshell - prepare, cook until soft, add sugar, cook until jelled. Bottle when cooled a little into warm serilised jars, seal when cold. It IS a lot of work really but with Rosella jam it IS worth it! If you like Plum jam, you'll like Rosella jam.
I guess you could make pies, tarts or cakes with the pulp rather than jam - my mind runs along 'jam rails' but there is other possibilities for cooked Rosella pulp.
Oh and you can't do italics in this comment window.
Elaine covered it all in a nutshell. My comment would be - they are lovely, but you need a lot of them to make jam! Worth it, but time consuming. Have fun - and well done for another success. Your cup runneth over!!
Hmm, yes, another food plant about which I have practically no knowledge. Worrying. I too thought at first that Rosella was the name of a disease, but then I realised I was thinking of Rubella. I remember that our blogging friend Bangchik from Malaysia had posted about Rosella (and making jam),so this might be a place to look for more ideas, Ali. http://mylittlevegetablegarden.blogspot.com/search/label/roselle
It certainly would have a surprise if I had rubella growing in my garden... although with my new green thumb, who knows?!
Thank you for the link Mark, I need all the help I can get. I thought I might have you with the rosella, until I came across the seeds I thought rosella jam (which is easy to find here) was a brand name!
Wendy, I don't think I will have nearly enough to make jam with. Do you know if they flower again next year, or is this it???
Elaine, you are truly a champion. Thank you so much for going to all that trouble to inform me about things I get into and then don't know what to do! You truly are a learned lady. As I said above, I don't think I will have nearly enough for jam, I am thinking perhaps 20 - 30 flowers, if I am lucky. Maybe I could mix it with another fruit? I'd say mulberries, but I don't think my five mulberries will cut it! I wonder if rosella and paw paw would make a good combination??
Do you know when to pick the flower pod things???
And yes, I'd be particularly upset if my rosella started okra-ing, okra being my all time number one most detested food. Euwwwww!
Hazel I don't know why we can't italic in the comments box. I am personally up for a good italic sentence any time of the day.
Cathy I am hoping the at one with garden is going to last for a few days yet, I have another ripe looking fig and am wiggling it around and hoping not to ruin it. I must try and be at one with sensing the fig's ripeness.
Erin you gorgeous young thing, you're here!
Suzanne even I think rosella is exotic, and I think that it's also known as "Queensland Jam Plant". Obviously I am not a big jam eater.
Rosella Jam must be a Queensland favourite from what I hear about it. I've eaten plenty of it and made one only batch. Too much like hard work to prepare the 'fruit'.
They are an annual plant, Ali, so when you pick your crop that is it for these particular plants. You may need to pick the crop over several days or even a week or two. The buds need to be a decent size - the bottom one in the photo is about the right size as best I can guess.
I used to think Okra was pretty yecchy too until I grew both red and green ones and found that frying them either whole or sliced was really something. Even better than eating them raw. The flavour is superb, the pods are as fresh as can be and best of all organic. The pods need to be young though, about 2 inches long is best. I've kept some seeds from this year's crop.
Anyway, Rosellas ... if you prepare as I mentioned above but minus the seeds, you can surely have them as tarts, pies or in muffins or cakes. Imagine Rhubarb and substitute Rosella pulp sweetened to taste. You might start a new trend for Queenslanders, away from jam although the amount of sugar needed can be a bit of a challenge.
Never heard of them - but they look beautiful, tasty or not.
Esther
Go to BLF Photo's and type in Rosella, there is a heap of photos that I took that shows the easiest way to separate if your recipe calls for it (which my jam recipe did). The easiest is the cordial, boil the whole fruit - lock stock & barrel with water, then strain off and add sugar - voila!
There is also a discussion (again in Forum type in Rosella) that is about me not finishing the job ;) which has some interesting information.
Ali - I'm not sure I think it only has one flowering. You would probably need a couple of plants to have enough for jam.
Donna cordial is a BRILLIANT idea. Even I think that I could manage some cordial. And the best thing in the world is that it's Felix's birthday on Wednesday and we are having a little party. How many good mummy points will I get if I serve up home made rosella cordial to the little munchkins?! Ooo I am excited now :)
Wendy I have three plants... but none of them are 2m tall, I keep reading about them reaching the 2m mark. Mine are more around the 40-50cm mark.
Elaine you are a champion. I hadn't thought of doing other things with the fruit, I might have to have a go at rosella muffins. And now I see how easy it is to grow, it might even get its own bed.
That is if I like the taste.
And Elaine, okra, yuck. I lived in Brazil for a while when I was young and fun and we grew some okra. Yuck, double yuck, yuck. Fresh, fried, steamed, boiled, okra = yuck.
Lol I really don't like it!
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