Tipple | Rose, Chia & Almond Sherbati

This celebratory rose-flavoured milkshake from Zanzibar is just the thing for balmy
summer days

Serves 5–6

Ingredients

1ltr almond milk
75g caster sugar
150ml rose syrup
Seeds scraped from ½ vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Ice cubes
2 tsp chia seeds (or basil seeds)
75g pistachios, finely chopped

To make

1 Combine the almond milk, sugar, rose syrup and vanilla in a blender.

2 Add 4 or 5 ice cubes and blend until smooth. Pour in the chia seeds and leave to bloom for at least 5 mins, or until they’ve become jelly-like.

3 Pour over ice, then garnish with a sprinkling of pistachios in each glass.

Server’s note: Sherbati is made during Muharram – the first month of the Islamic new year, which this year begins on 7 July. Traditionally, a big batch is made, bottled up, and donated to children in Zanzibar. It’s a sweeter version as it’s made with condensed milk and basil seeds, which bloom and become gelatinous, like chia seeds. Best enjoyed ice cold.

Taken from Bahari: Recipes From An Omani Kitchen And Beyond by Dina Macki (DK Books). Photography by Patricia Niven

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Tasting notes | Roses

Stop and smell the roses with our tasting guide to the various scents

After tropical orchids, the rose as a species has the widest variety of scents to enjoy. Like lavender, the smell of roses has a calming effect on the mind, but the scent of a rose also has the ability to lift the spirits, so why wouldn’t you want a deep sniff?

Whatever your preferences, there’s a rose for you. Here’s a brief introduction to the many and various scents of the rose. 

What you need to know first is that only a few roses actually smell of roses. Confused? Your nose will be. For the most part, it’s the red and pink roses that smell of the scent we tend to call ‘rose’. Others smell of fruits, violets, tea and a plethora of other things. 

Secondly, if you’re looking for a rose to give your nostrils a real treat, look for darker-coloured roses - the deeper the red or pink the stronger the smell - and go for roses with lots of petals. 

Scent experts recognise five main scents of rose. David Austin, unsurprisingly, has a lot to say on the subject. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Old Rose

   This is the traditional ‘rose’ scent. Albas, Damasks and Gallicas tend to have this scent. Also worth a sniff are some of David Austin’s English roses, such as Gertrude Jekyll and Rosa Desdemona. They’ll give you that English country garden scent and have quite a heady, high summer aroma. 

2. Fruit

   Roses can smell of many types of fruit, but most common are lemon scents. You’ll also hear roses being described as smelling of apple, mango and blackcurrant. They smell, as you’d expect, of a fresher type of sweetness than the old rose scents, and some border on being quite zesty. Rosa Zephirine Drouhin is a climber with a strong fruity scent that is lovely scrambling over a pergola. Other varieties that will give off a fruity niff are Lady Emma Hamilton and Jude the Obscure.

3. Musk

   Often also described as a ‘cloves’ scent, musk-scented roses smell warm and their scent tends to ‘waft’ easily on the breeze, so you don’t have to stick your nose too far inside to get a musky hit. Unlike other roses, where the scent comes from petals, musk roses’ scent comes from their stamen. For a rich, musky scent try tall rambling roses with lots of small flowers such as Rambling Rector. 

4. Myrrh

   Not to be confused with the stuff one of the Wise Men brought, myrrh type roses don’t smell of myrrh itself, but of more of sweet anise (the name comes from the Latin for Sweet Cicely - myrrhis odorata). Myrrh scented roses are a bit Marmite - you either love them or you don’t - and have notes of liquorice. It’s quite a complex smell. Sceptr’d Isle and Gentle Hermione are both good bets. 

5. Tea

   Put all thoughts of PG Tips out of your mind. Tea roses have a rich, fresh black tea aroma. It’s a more ‘grown-up’ smell than some of the ‘old rose’ and ‘fruit’ rose scents, to our nose. They often have notes of violets and smell quite earthy in a pretty way. Lady Hillingdon and Lady of Shallott are both heavily scented tea roses - you can almost picture the women themselves sipping China tea underneath an arbour of peachy tea roses. 

Many rose varieties will smell of two or more of these types, so you can mix and match your favourites. And, of course, there’s much more to it than that. Some have chocolate notes, or honeysuckle. Some burst with citrus or undertones of smoke. Take time to stop and smell the roses and you’ll find yourself on an olfactory journey that never ends. 

If you’ve been inspired to plant your own rose garden or just add a rose to your garden, read our feature Coming Up Roses in our June ‘Flower’  issue, in which Kendra Wilson advises on modern ways to feature roses in your outdoor space. 

The June issue is in shops and available from our online store now.

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Make | Sweet & Silly Sandwiches

Picnic season is upon us, and what better reason for a silly sandwich? 

If there’s ever a time when we can cast aside the sensible egg and cress or ham and mustard it must be for a midsummer picnic when a bit of fun and frivolity is always on the menu. Here are a few of our favourite sweet sandwiches that are part lunch, part pudding and part party. 

Fairy Bread

An Antipodean delicacy; open buttered white bread slices, sprinkled with hundreds and thousands. Nutritional factor: zero. Fun factor: eleven out of ten. 

Banana and Honey

Reminding us of childhood Sunday teas, the hilarity of putting banana in between slices of Hovis has never left us. Jazz it up with a sprinkling of cinnamon. 

Grated Apple

Excellent with crusty bread and a slightly salted butter. Add peanut butter if you must but we quite like the simplicity of a good old apple sarnie. 

Chocolate, brie and raspberry

One for toastie fans. This is like a sweeter version of a bacon, brie and cranberry toastie. The brie and the chocolate (dark for preference) melts beautifully into the toast while the raspberry reduces to a very pleasant mush, taking the place of the cranberry sauce. 

Fruit Sandos

A Japanese staple: chilled, whipped cream and seasonal fruits - strawberries, mandarins, pear… whatever you like - sandwiched in slices of milk bread (brioche also works). Fresh, sweet and so pretty looking. 

Sugar sandwiches

No messing about here. This traditionally Irish treat was usually bestowed upon children by over-indulgent grandparents. There’s little as exciting as the sight of the bag of Tate and Lyle, a tub of Stork and some plastic bread on the sideboard in your Granny’s kitchen. Add some lemon juice for a bit of zing and a pancake day ambience. 

In our June issue, we have a rather lovely recipe for a grown-up silly sandwich. The Rose Petal & Strawberry Sandwiches (recipe below) are part of our Heart Body & Soul feature that focuses on roses this month. It also includes instructions to make Rose Bitters, Rosewater Tonic and a savoury galette with Rose Harissa. 

Rose Petal & Strawberry Sandwiches

Give your afternoon tea a floral and fruity twist with sandwiches that give scones a run for their money 

Per sandwich: 

Two slices of brioche bread 

1 tbsp clotted cream 

1 tbsp strawberry jam 

A few drops of rosewater 

3 strawberries 

Fresh rose petals, six or more 

1 Spread the cream onto both slices of the brioche bread. 

2 Stir the rosewater into the jam, then spread this on top of the cream on one slice of bread. Thinly slice the strawberries and carefully lay on top of the cream on the other slice. 

3 Remove the heels of the rose petals if needed before laying the petals on top of the jam and carefully putting the two pieces together. Either cut into dainty fingers or leave as delicious doorsteps.

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*David Austin® fragrant, repeat-flowering English roses

We’re offering readers of The Simple Things 10% OFF every time you order with us before 30 September 2018, quoting code SP6.

David Austin’s English Roses combine exceptional beauty and delicious fragrances with outstanding health, reliability and vigour. Flowering in flushes throughout the summer, they will transform your garden whether planted in a traditional rose border, a large container or in a mixed cottage garden style planting. For help selecting your roses, contact our rose experts.

Visit: www.davidaustinroses.co.uk
Call: 0800 111 4699

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Recipe: Rose and honey cake

This pretty cake is inspired by an Indian rose petal preserve. Aniseedy fennel balances the rosewater while dried rose petals add crunch to the creamy icing

ROSE AND HONEY CAKE

Serves 10–12

100g golden caster sugar
100g clear honey
100g self-raising flour
100g ground almonds
200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
1 tsp rosewater

for the rose mix
20g dried rose petals*
1 tbsp dry-roasted fennel seeds
1⁄2 tsp ground cardamom
4 tbsp caster sugar

for the icing
300ml double cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp dry-roasted fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Grease 2 x 20cm cake tins and line them with baking parchment.
2 In a large bowl, mix the cake ingredients with an electric whisk for 2 mins until light and creamy. Divide the batter equally into the prepared tins and bake for 20–25 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
3 Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
4 To make the rose mix, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 2–3 mins, stirring continuously. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the sugar starts to melt. Give it a good stir and set aside to cool.
5 To make the icing, whisk the cream and sugar together in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold in the crushed fennel seeds.
6 To assemble, place one cake on a serving plate and spread half the icing over it. Sprinkle with half the rose mix. Place the second cake on top. Spread the remaining icing over this layer and finish by sprinkling over the last of the rose mix. Leave to stand at room temperature for 10 mins before serving.

Note:  This cake will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to four days.

Recipe from The Cardamom Trail by Chetna Makan (Mitchell Beazley). 

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Give it a grow: Bare-root climbing roses

WHAT IS IT?

No surprises here – it’s a perennial plant with exposed roots. Available from autumn to mid-spring, often by mail order, plants are dug up while dormant, roots washed, then shipped. 

WHY WOULD YOU?

Once in the ground, bare-root are exactly the same as container-grown plants, only cheaper. As this is the traditional way to plant roses, you’ll also and more varieties. The key thing is to soak the roots as soon as you can, before planting (if the ground is frozen or waterlogged, plant them temporarily in pots). The planting hole should be deep and wide enough to ensure roots aren’t bent or broken and are covered by at least a centimetre of soil. 

WHY WOULDN’T YOU? 

Perhaps if you were shopping in spring or summer, when only container-grown are available. 

WHICH VARIETY?

With hundreds to choose from, picking the best is a tall order. Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, a scented shrub variety (pictured above), was once voted the Nation’s Favourite. The RHS suggests ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ for a north wall or shady spot; ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’ to clamber into trees, and ‘Pink Perpetue’ for covering pillars and trellis.

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Homemade rose face cream

When the roses are in bloom all things floral become a little addictive. Make like a kid and stir up a summer potion for your dressing table 

MAKES: 175ml
KEEPS: 6–12 months

INGREDIENTS
100g coconut oil
25ml avocado oil
1 tbsp honey
5 tsps rosewater
10–15 drops rose (or rose geranium) essential oil

METHOD
1 Melt the coconut and avocado oils and honey in a bain-marie. Warm the rosewater in a separate bowl in the bain-marie.
2 Remove from heat, and whisk the oil and honey mixture, adding a drop of rosewater.
3 Keep whisking and adding rosewater until you’ve used all of it, then whisk until it starts to solidify. Add the essential oils and whisk until well blended.
4 Keep in a sterilised jar.

Courtesy of Lynn Rawlinson. Found in The Domestic Alchemist: 501 Herbal Recipes for Home, Health and Happiness by Pip Waller (Leaping Hare Press). 

Turn to page 123 of June's The Simple Things for more Miscellany wisdom. 

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