I've finally learnt how to make rose petal jam! Mirela, from Agriturismo La Conca, near Smerillo, is Rumanian and this jam is a tradition of Rumania. Apparently, at about 4pm, when we would offer guests a cup of tea, they offer some water and a dish of jam.
Anyway, last Thursday I went to La Conca clutching my bag of rose petals, sugar and some empty jars. Unfortunately, most of my rose petals were wrong. The petal of the modern roses that we have planted are too hard. The ones to use are the softer petals from the climbing roses we have at the front of the house. These are old roses that were used as a type of fencing when the farmers couldn't afford to fence.
We used all the petals I'd brought anyway. It just meant that my jam is sligtly "chewy". Mirela's jam is a delicate pale lavender colour which tastes like the aroma of roses. Sounds strange but it's true. My jam tastes the same but has bits of yellow petals in the midst of the pink. I must admit that Mirela's is much better!
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