'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
TOFFEE always reminds me of autumn, especially Halloween and Bonfire Night. Here's two recipes from my mam's schooldays in the early 50s, when they were barely out of rationing. Between the rust stains from the staples and the ink blots, you can just about make out recipes for toffee (with vinegar, strange but true) and cinder toffee, which hurts the roof of your mouth if you eat too much of it. If you're having trouble with your teeth, avoid these at all costs.
And two more wartime throwbacks - rosehip syrup recipes, one original, one modern.
Toffee & rosehip syrup like grandma used to make
Cinder toffee (the one with bubbles)
Grease a tin. Put into a pan 2 level tablespoons of syrup and 2 rounded tablespoons of sugar. Measure half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda on to a spoon, add it
to pan and dissolve slowly over a low heat.
Bring to boil and boil for 4 minutes (DO NOT STIR).
Remove from heat and sieve in quickly 1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Stir in. Pour into a greased tin and leave to set.
Ordinary toffee (tray toffee)
4oz sugar
1 tablespoon syrup
Small knob of margarine
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon water
Grease a tin.
Measure all ingredients into a pan. Place on a low heat and dissolve gently. Bring slowly to the boil.
Boil until a little of the mixture sets hard into a ball in a cup of cold water.
Pour into the tin and when warm, mark into squares, as it's a devil to get out.
ROSEHIPS contain 20 times the amount of Vitamin C as oranges, so during the Second World War, when citrus fruit was virtually unobtainable, the Ministry of Food produced encouraged families to go foraging for the fruit.
From 1940-49, it produced The Hedgerow Harvest leaflet, giving housewives recipes based on wild fruits, this one for rosehip syrup.
Boil 3 pints of water. Mince 2lb hips in a coarse mincer and put immediately into the boiling water. Bring to boil and then place aside for 15 minutes.
Pour into a flannel or linen jelly bag and allow to drip until the bulk of the liquid has come through.
Return the residue to the pan, add 1 1/2 pints of boiling water, stir and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Pour back into the jelly bag and allow to drip. To make sure all the sharp hairs are removed, put back the first half cupful of liquid and allow to drip through again.
Put the mixed juice into a clean saucepan and boil down until the juice measures about 1 1/2 pints, then add 1 1/4lb of sugar and boil for a further 5 minutes.
Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal at once.
It is advisable to use small bottles as the syrup will not keep for more than a week or two once it is opened. Store in a dark cupboard.
Wartime 'Hedgerow harvest' rosehip syrup
Rosehip syrup: a modern version
HERE'S a similar modern recipe for rosehip syrup:
1kg rosehips
3 litres of water
500g dark brown soft sugar
Bring to the boil 2 litres of water.
Chop rosehips in food processor, then add to boiling water.
Bring water back to the boil, then remove from heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes.
Pour rosehips and liquid into a scalded jelly bag and allow the juice to drip through. Gently squeeze the jelly bag to extract as much liquid as possible.
Add rosehip pulp back to a saucepan containing 1 litre of water and bring back to the boil.
Remove from heat and allow contents to steep for another 20 minutes before straining through the jelly bag again.
Add sugar to the strained rosehip liquid and dissolve, allow to simmer for five minutes, then pour into hot, sterilised bottles.