Now we have three thriving plants, and lots of roses to make Rose Petal Jam and the light rose-scented Yogurt Mousse flavored with it. Later when our guests come, we will offer them my refreshing Pomegranate and Rose Petal Granita everyone loves. 

I also dry the fragrant petals –spread on clean towels all over the house– to use later in my herbal teas and in home-made Eastern Mediterranean spice mixes.

The kitchen is filled with the haunting, sensual aroma and although I try, I cannot remember for what reason during my childhood I so hated rose petal jam. I had probably associated it with endless and boring visits to monasteries on family excursions throughout Greece. Nuns traditionally prepare and offer visitors a spoonful of rodozahari (rose petal jam), which I always declined to taste.

Not until I visited Morocco in the early ‘90s did I finally lay the ghost of my youth-trauma hatred of rose petal jam and rose water. Moroccan sweets, but also the savory dishes scented with rose petals, were a revelation to me, and even made me wish I had tasted rodozhari on some of those monastery visits.

I learned that Armenian monks on the Venetian island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni prepare a wonderful rose petal jam, as Emiko Davis writes. His recipe is somewhat different from mine; rose petal jam, at least the one I have seen and tasted, are not that vividly pink as in his pictures, unless one uses artificial coloring. My jam, form pale pink fragrant roses is light amber, while the darker pink petals make a deeper colored jam.

For many years now we have tried to cultivate the old-fashioned heirloom fragrant roses in our garden on Kea – Rosa Damascena and related antique rose varietals – but our dry climate and poor soil has made it very difficult to produce enough rose petals to make the jam. This year is the first time I managed to gather quite a few fragrant rose petals to make a small batch of jam.

But even if you have just a few roses you can complement them with good quality organic dried rose petals, together with good rosewater, as I have done for many years, in order to make a cup of hauntingly aromatic jam to serve with fresh cheese, with ice cream, or with yogurt, and especially with the light Yogurt Mousse that our guests love.

Rose Petal Jam

Pomegranate and Rose Petal Granita  

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I liked the idea of adding warm spices, but increased the number of other fruits –oranges, apples, and particularly lemons—which beautifully complement the carrots’ one-dimensional sweetness. Also, I didn’t over-process the fruit to get a very smooth jam, as the recipe suggests.

My carrot jam is somewhat tart, much closer to my most favorite citrus-fruit marmalades. But you can add more honey or sugar to make it sweeter, as most people probably would prefer it…

Serve with creamy, thick yogurt, with fresh cheese –like myzithra or ricotta– or with the very creamy manouri cheese. I also like to spread it on slices of my Orange, Lemon or Tangerine Olive-oil Cake. 

At Molly’s Rise and Shine in New Orleans their very smooth carrot jam is served with granola and yogurt, topped with orange segments and blackberries.

PHOTO from the restaurant’s FaceBook page.

Makes about 2.2 quarts (liters)

2 pounds carrots (1 kilo) cut into 2.5-inch pieces, then each piece halved lengthwise; depending on the carrot’s thickness, each carrot half cut lengthwise into 2-3 sticks

2 medium-size Granny Smith apples (about 2/3 pound, 350 grams), cored, and cut into long chunks

3 oranges halved, pitted, and cut into thin slices

4 lemons halved, pitted, and  cut into thin slices

2 cups orange juice

1 cup water or more, as needed

1 cup granulated sugar, or more as needed (to taste) 

Pinch of salt

SPICES –tied in a piece of cheesecloth

5 cardamom pods, lightly smashed

4 whole star anise

2 cinnamon sticks

½ cup honey or more, as needed

1/4 cup lemon juice

Full fat, thick yogurt, myzithra (ricotta-like cheese), or creamy manouri for serving (optional)

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan place the carrots, apples, oranges, lemons and add the sugar, the orange juice, and the water, as well as the spices in the cheesecloth, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring occasionally.

Cover with a piece of parchment paper and a lid, lower the heat to medium-low and cook; cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are crisp-tender, about 40 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are very tender, and the liquid has reduced to a thin, syrupy consistency, 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and transfer the carrot mixture to a food processor or blender. Mash to get a somewhat coarse mixture. Alternatively, you can mash the carrot and fruit in the pot with a stick blender.

 Transfer the mashed carrots etc. back to the pot, add the honey and lemon, and cook another 10 minutes, stirring often. Taste and add more honey or sugar if you want –I prefer this jam on the sour side, as all my marmalades.  

Discard the spices and transfer the jam to clean, warm jars. Fill almost to the top, close the lids, and let the jars cool and seal. Keep in a cool place or in the refrigerator. As this jam has little sugar it may spoil sooner than most other fruit preserves and jams.  

If you like, spoon yogurt into bowls, and top with dollops of spicy carrot jam.

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