[Artemisia] A Question for the Vikings

[Tamar Black Sea]

Gekorgia Foster wrote:

>Now DON't be a spoon-tease ... what is in it?<

What is in rose hip soup? Uhh... well....rose hips. I am being serious. You know the little red berry-like things that grow on the common variety of rose shrubs? They are a great source of vitamin C and are wonderful for tea as well as soup. I know some people who make an alcohol-based tincture of rose hips as a vitamin C supplement. Rose hips are sweetest after the first frost.

To be honest, I have never made it from scratch. We used to buy packets of dried rose hip puree. I believe it was thickened with something like cornstarch or tapioca. I looked at a few internet recipes and saw that some people also use potato flour as a thickener. One variation also uses ground almonds. I never tried it that way, but it sounds good.

Swedish fruit soups are served cold, often with a dollop of sour cream or heavy cream. If you can't get rose hips, there are many variations of cold strawberry soup that also make you feel like you could die happy. There are tons of recipes all over the internet. My favorite version uses strawberries, rhubarb and lemon grass....so it is a safe bet that it is NOT a period viking recipe :-D

Hope this helps :-D

Tamar