Iced Wild Rose Tea
By Erin Eberle
Through a melding of traditional Native American ingredients and a creative, modern culinary style I am developing a “Modern Native Cascadian Cuisine.” These recipes reflect the values of place, time, culture, and craft. Please share this recipes, share this story, or simply take a moment to honor our modern foodways and the people who truly made them possible—from the Indigenous communities of the past, to the farmers and chefs of today.
The sweet, lingering smell of wild roses is a sign of summer; the season brings with it many gifts. I love using wild roses and other flowers in my recipes that are often thought of as just decorative. These gifts from the earth have so many uses. One of my favorite ways to honor the wild roses and keep them around after they have stopped blossoming, turning them into a tea.
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Wild Rose Tea
2 cups (1 ounce, 30 grams) wild roses, stems and leaves removed
1 lemon
2 teaspoons wild rose simple syrup
4 cups (960 milliliters) boiling water
Wild Rose Simple Syrup
½ cup (120 milliliters) water
½ cup (3.5 ounces, 100 grams) raw cane sugar
Handful wild rose petals
Simmer water and sugar until sugar melts, steep wild rose petals for 2 minutes. Remove flowers, let cool. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Put flowers in a large Mason jar, and add enough boiling water to cover wild roses (about 4 cups). Cover and soak for about 12 hours.
Strain out flowers. Taste. If resulting tea is too strong or bitter, water down as needed.
Add wild rose simple syrup (approximately ½ tsp per cup), and squeeze in juice from lemon (approximately ½ tsp per cup).
Stir and serve chilled (refrigerate and/or use ice cubes).
