Rose Petal Jam (Gulqand)

As a student of herbalism and natural medicine, I’ve been experimenting with making tinctures, syrups, decoctions, teas, fermentations and other slippery, startling, sweet, harrowing or lilting flavors and textures for several years now. It’s been a riot at times, but mostly it’s been a lot of widened-eyes after first tries and glad smiles for new flavors. Most of my herbal undertakings come from aged recipes from well-known herbalists, or my own teachers at my medical college.

This recipe, however, came to me through that great, but not always trustworthy instructor: the internet — in particular, this gulqand instructible. Still, as wild as “rose petal jam” sounds, and as random as the information source, I know that roses are a friend to humans, and are regarded as a potent but safe medicine in many cultures. Also, I thought, why NOT work with rose petals if you have a chance?

Indeed, aside from enjoying the jam itself, harvesting and washing (and lucky for me — photographing) rose petals was the loveliest part of this exotic, yet backyard, homegrown simple project. It was easy to throw together, taking less than a half hour to harvest, wash and layer the rose petals with an equal amount of sugar. After this set-up, the jar is to be left in the sun for ten days. Only a haiku can describe each of those ten days:

Rose, sugar, sunlight
Fermented syrup escapes
Enraptures the ants

You may be enraptured, too, when you try gulqand. It is exquisite on plain yogurt, with a comforting rosy aroma and a sweet syrup that is balanced by the agreeable bitterness and firm texture of the petals. In line with their popular association with love, roses are regarded by some in western herbalism as a heart and circulatory medicine. They’d make brilliant wedding favors, don’t you think?

I divvied the final product into sample-sized jars from Specialty Bottle, and to reveal just how precious the jars’ contents are, I adorned them with Lemonade Stand style labels in red in the small rectangular shape and scallop shape (sizes 03 and 23).

Used In This Project:

• Small Rectangular Labels • I chose the “Lemonade Stand” style in red.
• Scallop Labels • I chose the “Lemonade Stand” style in red.

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Lorraine (60 Posts)

Lorraine is a medical student, writer and food lover living in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Sometimes, Lorraine realizes that, for the most part, her family, friends and adored acquaintances are just a bike ride away. This gives her sense of cozy giddiness! Mostly though, she gets psyched about creating and sharing food, particularly the kind of food that is accidentally healthy and delicious. See more of her work at SweetAllium.