Rose, milk and honeysuckle

Recipes for volunteering: Rose and honeysuckle ice cream

This week, I'm excited to share a late summer ice cream recipe with paid subscribers. But before diving in, I'd love your input!

You may have noticed that my July and August posts have centred around the theme of food in public spaces, or 'public food.' You also may not have, as I have applied this theme quite broadly; for example, recalling my personal experiences of lunches whilst at High School instead of focusing on what the school provided or how that fits into the context of current food policy.

Throughout July and August, I've been planning a piece related to some archival research I've been doing as part of Nourish Scotland's Public Diners project. To accompany this, I'd love to crowdsource my August Potluck Playlist:

What tunes would you want to hear in your ideal public restaurant?

Please share your favourite songs or artists by sending a link or band/song title via  Instagram DM, emailing me at foodplayfood@gmail.com, or messaging me through the Substack app. Your suggestions will make the playlist truly special!

As I've recently published quite a few posts that relate to public spaces, food in public, foraging or public food, I've added a new section to my Susbtack website entitled 'Food In Public', for easy reference.

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Rose, milk and honeysuckle ice cream

My friend Amy Rankine taught me most of my foraging skills. She also shared a valuable tip with me: milk is the ideal medium for infusing the flavours of wild plants.

Having worked in retail, I am lucky to have often ended up with batches of short-dated milk, as we hate to see anything go to waste! These milks are usually high-quality organic, non-homogenised, and full-fat, such as the wonderful Mossgiel Milk from Ayrshire and Wee Isle Dairy from the Isle of Gigha. While running Leith Food Assembly, I discovered that one of my favourite ways to utilise these milks is by creating a tasty infused custard, especially using aromatic wild herbs like Sweet Cicely.

One of my first versions of this recipe was made with a locally produced Scottish oat milk from Brose, which is made with Scottish-grown oats. I paired it with fragrant roses, specifically the 'rosa rugosa' variety, which I gathered from along the Water of Leith, picked as they are just about to fall naturally to the ground. These blousy roses, often chosen by the council, can be found in parks, car parks, industrial estates, and along canals and rivers throughout the city. You'll need a few generous handfuls to achieve a distinct rose flavour. For this version, I also added a few honeysuckle blossoms, but you may wish to play around with flavours to suit your personal taste; for example, I love rose paired with cardamom.