CHAPTER XIV

ROSA SOLIS, ROSE PLATE, AND ROSEE
" To entreate of them all exactly I doe not entend, for soe a pretty volume of itselfe might be composed. I will therefore give you onely a hint of every one of them and referre the more ample dec- laration of them to those that would entreate onely of them."
— Theatricum Botanicum. JOHN PARKINSON.
"It is not my purpose to make my book a Confectionarie, a Sugar Baker's Furnace, a Gentlewoman's Preserving Pan, nor yet an Apothecaries Shop or Dispensatorie."
— Great Herball. JOHN GERARDE, 1556.
UAINT old Rose recipes for conserves and preserves and their cousinry may be given in this book of Roses without making it a " confectionarie," for they are found in such num- bers in so many books of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies — books that are far from being cook-books. One
of my ancient volumes was published in the year 1653, by a noble knight, Sir Hugh Plat, and in the figurative language of the day it is entitled, A Jewell House of Art and Nature. It was a book of a class very popu- lar in England at that day and for a century to follow, x 305
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In them each author "faithfully set down according to his own experience" all kinds of rare and profit- able experiments and inventions in domestic and public life and " Chimical conclusions, rare practices, choice secrets made known," — in short, as said Sir Hugh, he "anatomized Art and Nature." In all of these books are found ever many recipes for dis- tillations, compoundings, preservings, etc., of fruits and flowers ; for such doings were deemed evidences of culture and refinement. Great men and great women aided in compilation. This Jewell House abounds in such gastronomical rules ; the author waxed somewhat jocose over his turning kitchen- colonel ; he writes thus anent the preservation in fresh trim of flowers and fruits : —
" Now methinks I see a whole troop of gallant dames attending with listening ears or longing to learn some new- found skill, as how they may play at Chop-Cherry when cherry-time is past. Wei, to give these Ladies some con- tent I wil unfould a scroul which I had long since as care- fully wrapped up as ever any of the Sybels did their fatal phrophiesies, wherein I will make them as cunning as my- selfe (having onely that I will reserve one strange venue to foil a scholler withal if need be). The secret is short. Let one element be included in another so the one may have no access nor participate with the other. But this peradventure is too Phylosophical for Women. Then re- ceive it Ladies with plain terms into your open Laps.
" For want of glasses with broad skirts (whereof notwith- standing I do think there are enough to be had if you can be gracious with the Master of the Glass-house) cause new Pewter vessels of large reception to be made of the fashion of bell Saltcellars with divers eyes or hooks hanging in the
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midst at the which you must fasten the Cherries (or Roses) by the stalks and hang them in it so that one may not touch the other."
Let me conclude his rules. This glass thus hung with Roses was to be set mouth downward into an- other vessel of water, thus " one element was in- cluded in another " ; and all this trouble was simply to preserve flowers in freshness of hue, as a rare conceit for the winter season. The knight gave another recipe to preserve dried Roses. I give it at length to show the minuteness of description, the painful ways of our ancestors, as well as their love of Roses : —
" If you would perform the same in Rose-leaves you must, in Rose-time, make choice of such Roses as are neither in bud nor full-blown (for these have the smoothest leaves of all other) which you must especially cull and chuse from the rest. Then take of right Callis sand, and wash the same in some change of waters, and dry it thoroughly well either in an oven or in the sun, and having shallow square or long boxes of five or six inches deep make first an even lay of sand in the bottome, upon the which lay your Rose- leaves, one by one, (so as no one of them touch another) till you have covered all the sand : then with a spoon or with your hand, strew sand upon these leaves until you have thinly covered them all, and then make another lay of Rose-leaves upon the sand, and so make stratum super stra- tum (or four or five lays) one upon another. Set this box abroad in some warm place in a hot sunny day, and com- monly in two hot days they will be thoroughly dry : then with your hand, or a spoon you must strive gently to get underneath them and so to lift them up without breaking. Keep these leaves in jar glasses bound about with paper or
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parchment, in some cupboard that is near a chimney, or stove, least otherwise by the damp of the air they relent again, and so you lose your labour. I find the red Rose-leaf best for this purpose, by reason of his deep colour.
" And so you may have Rose-leaves and other flowers to lay about your basins, windows and court-cupboards all the winter long. Also this skill is very requisite for a good simplifier, because he may dry the leaf of any herb in this manner and lay it, being dry, in his herball, with the simple which it representeth, whereby he may easily learn to know the names of all simples he desireth. The ordinary drying of Rose-leaves is to lay them upon hot leads on a hot sunny day and the sooner you dispatch, the better they will keep their Colour and scent. And when you have dried them thoroughly you may fill a Rose-water glasse therewith, stopping it close and so they will last good a long time."
I love to read these old Rose rules, to note their curious words and details, — that Rose vinegar can be made a perfect ruby color by " making choice of the crimson velvet coloured leaves, clipping away the whites with a pair of sheers' -these were of the Velvet Rose ; that " in the pulling of your Roses divide all the blasted leaves and take the other fresh leaves and lay abroad in your windows with clean linen under them." Even the humblest advice comes not amiss, such as " to distill Rose water good-cheap you must buy store of Roses when you find a glut of them in the market, whereby they are sold for sevenpence or eightpence a bushel." Good-cheap indeed was such delectable store at such a price. It assents well with my spirit to read of " kindly ways " of treating the Rose-leaves ; while
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another curious term is a " conceited " mode of pre- paring Rose-leaves, wherein the word conceit is em- ployed in its old Shakespearian meaning of a dainty and fanciful device, especially in cooking. It gives
Roses in California.
me a good notion of the housewife's ample stores to read in these rules of one recipe for " 40 bushels of damask Roses," as well to count over the many glass, earthen, and pewter vessels named to make and to contain these Rose treasures. Rules, too, there are for wonderful waxflowers made by coating the real Roses with a preparation of melted wax, —
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an almost endless toil ; also for casting flowers in glue ; another still with " potter's earth," — a step toward porcelain. More curious still were the flowers moulded in manchet or bread crumbs and fixed with some preparation. A certain noble lord of our own day has been wont to thus divert a din- ner party, and cleverly, too. Hugh Plat does not refer to potpourri or any such preparation of Rose- leaves.
"Conserve of red Roses the Italian manner" was defined as a rich paste made by putting the Roses and sugar in a "close stopped glass." Sugar of Roses was made of the deepest red Roses " with the buttons cut off," dried in an oven and " searsed ' (which were sifted) ; these were then mixed with sugar and rolled into sticks. There was a pleasant Marise, of Rose-leaves, and pomanders made of Rose-leaves and " Maste of a sweet-apple-tree." These pomanders were carried in the hand or worn in a pierced ball of silver or gold.
" The bob of gold Which a pomander ball doth hold This to her side she doth attach With gold Crochet or French Pennache."
King Edward gave a recipe for a very good per- fume to burn on coals to make the house " as though full of Roses." All these prove why Rose- leaves were purchased in families by the bushel. They were also strewn on the floors of rooms. A distinct item in many ancient domestic accounts was for " strewing Roses and strewing Herbs," and
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the floors needed them in the abodes of our none-too- tidy forebears.
Rose-leaves were used, too, in large quantities, in manufacturing domestic remedies and medicines. There were Tincture of Roses, Syrup of Roses, Electuary of Roses, Honey of Roses, Rose-troches, and Rose-lohochs (which was a sort of Rose paste to be licked up by the tongue). There was a special cor- dial made of new Sweetbrier Roses. And Dogroses were made into a pulp and then into a sweet conserve which was called by the ponderous name, " Cynor- rhodon."
Every household of any dignity had a Rose-still, and made Rose-water in what would seem to us lav- ish abundance, and almost extravagance. This Rose- water entered into scores of medical recipes, and was used to flavor all kinds of food, even meats and fish. A Rose-still was a costly cooking-utensil, but one would last for generations.
I have another interesting old book, The Queen s Closet Opened, published in 1656, a book of recipes compiled for Queen Henrietta Maria. I purchased it at a book-stall in New York for the sum of ten cents, and I have had amusement from it to at least that amount, I think. Among the prescriptions in the book are some by Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Ken- elm Digby (the viper-husband), the king, the queen, and many physicians and chirurgeons. The part entitled A Queen s Delight has many " secrets ' for preserving, conserving, and candying ; among the materials in high favor were Rose-leaves. All the distillations were done in a Rose-still. I will
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not copy the recipes for potpourri since they are so well known, but here are some recipes which are not so familiar to us : —
" To make Conserve of Roses boyld. Take a quart of Red Rose Water, a quart of fair water, boyl in the water a pound of red Rose leaves, the whites cut off. The leaves must be boyld very tender, then take three pound of Sugar, and put to it, a pound at a time, and let it boyl a little between every pound, and so put it up in your pots."
" To make Lozenges of Red Roses. Boyl your Sugar to sugar again, then put in your red Roses, being finely beaten and mayd moist with the juice of a Lemon. Let it not boyl after the Roses are in, but pour it upon a Pye plate and cut it into what form you please."
The Form of Cury was a roll of English cookery compiled about the year 1390 by the master-cooks of King Richard II. He had in all two thousand cooks. It was a vellum roll containing one hundred and ninety-six recipes, and was presented to Queen Elizabeth as a great curiosity. A few other con- temporary collections of cooking recipes exist, and these were all privately printed in 1791 in a large book which is now very rare.
A vast discretion had to be employed by one who followed these recipes. The amounts were seldom given, even of powerful flavorings and ingredients; "according to taste " was the universal rule.
The extreme of vagueness of time-durations in cooking from those old recipes was reached in one given by one ancient Henslow, " Let it seethe the spaces of a mile or more," that is, while you could
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walk a mile, which meant about twenty minutes. " Seethe it a walm or two " was also far from definite. Roses, and especially Rose-hips, were of much value to those two thousand royal cooks. Here are two of the Rose recipes from the Form of Cury.
u
Rosee (from ivbite Roses^).
" Take thyk Rose mylk as to fore welled [before willed] . Cast thereto sugar, a goode porcion pynes [mulberries]. Dates, ymynced canell [cinnamon] and powder gynger, and seethe [boil] it and messe it forth. If thou wilt, in stede of almand mylke take swete cremes of kyne."
" Saiuce Sarzyne (Saracen sauce}.
"Take heppes [hips] and make hem clene. Takealmands blanched. Frye hem in oil and bray hem in a mortar, with heppes. Draw it up with red wyne, and do therein sugar ynowhg [enough] with powdor-fort [powder of hot spices as pepper, ginger, etc.]. Let it be stondyng [stiff] and alay [mix] it with floer of rys, and color it with alkanet, and messe it forth ; and flourish with pomegarnet [pomegranate] . If thou wilt in flesch day seeth capons, and take the brawn, and tese him smal, and do thereto, and make a lico [liquor] of this broth."
We learn many things besides recipes from these old books, among them most ingenious modes of misspelling. But I really believe that ynowhg for enough is the veriest height of cacography.
When I was a child we always nibbled the hips of Wild Roses and of Eglantine, but had a firm notion that other Rose-hips were poisonous. We called the young shoots of the Wild Rose " Briar-
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Rose Arches at Twin Oaks, near Washington, D.C.
candy." I find they were really candied by house- wives two hundred years ago.
Rose-hips have been entirely neglected for many
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years as a product for conserves, sweetmeats, etc. I know but one person who gathers them for that purpose, and that is the Irish wife of a German farmer in Old Narragansett. She cooks both Rose- hips and Mushrooms, to the distinctly expressed scorn of many of her American neighbors. From her husband she learned to make the German com- pote called Hagenmark. This seems to preserve the very being of the Wild Rose in its lovely glow- ing color. When sold in great pails in chill November in the German market-places, the vivid red tempers the frosty air.
Siebold says that the Rosa rugosa has been culti- vated in China for over a thousand years, and that the ladies of the Chinese court have ever made a delightful potpourri by mixing hips and leaves with musk and camphor.
Here is a recipe for a tart, from a seventeenth century cook-book, entitled The Accomplish!: Cook.
" To make a Tart of Hips.
" Take Hips, cut them and take out the seeds very clean, then wash them, season with sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Close the tart, bake it, ice it, sprinkle sugar, and serve it in."
Pastes of various flowers were made boiled down with Rose-water. Jemelloes were made of sugar, caraways, and Rose-water ; these were excellent for " banqueting." " Sugar plate ' was similar, save that " gum-dragon ' was added. Rose plate was nearly the same thing. Muskechives or Kissing Comfits were made of sugar, " gum-dragon, musk,
316 Sun-dials and Roses of Yesterday
civet, orris powder and Rose-water," and were " cut into lozenges with your iging-iron." Macaroons were of almond flour flavored with Rose-water. Italian chips were made of flowers of various colors, chiefly Roses. Gingerbread was flavored with Rose- water and gilded, and was deemed a great elegance. A curious sort of potted Roses was made by the cook of the king of Sicily, and is thus described: —
" This is what I call Potted Roses, and it is thus pre- pared : I first pound some of the most fragrant Roses in a mortar; then I take the brains of birds and pigs wellboiled, and stripped of every particle of meat. I then add the yolks of some eggs, some oil, a little cordial, some pepper and some wine : after having beaten and mixed it well together I throw it in a new pot and place it over a slow but steady fire."
The chronicler adds that when the pot was un- covered the most delicious fragrance issued forth, overcoming the guests with delight.
We have seen that Wine Rosat was known in ancient Rome, and there was a smooth and oily but potent drink of Elizabethan days known by the pretty name of Rosa Solis, strong with aqua vit and pungent with Orange flower water and cinnamon extract : " old Red Rose water " in plentiful quan- tity gave it its name.
" We abandon all ale, And beer that is stale Rosa soils and damnable hum."
It was beloved of roysterers, scourers, and Mo- hocks, such rakehelly fellows as Captain Ferrers,
Queen of the Prairie Rose.
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who, crazed with this liquor, leaped dare-devil from a high second-story balcony, " the desperatest frolic I did ever see," wrote Pepys. I should have loved to see a braggart gallant of Elizabeth's day, swaggering in bombasted breeches, great green shoe-roses, gauze sash and shoulder knot, and hat with pearl band and feathers, - - such a fearful guy as is our poor noble Sir Walter Raleigh in his portrait,- -bawling in through a red-lattice for a black-jack, and drinking off in a single vast quaff a draught of damnable hum or " right rosa solis, as ever washed molligrubs out of a moody brain," which was its special function - the cinnamon being deemed in great degree chasing off the megrims.