Blooming Delicious

Using flowers in your food ties you to an historical thread that goes back to at least classical times. Grow your own crop to add a pop of colour and flavor to mealtimes.

Whether it’s saffron from crocuses, preserved caper buds or fruit, or the sprouting buds on broccoli, flowers have flavoured food for centuries. Calendula, for instance, – or as it’s more well known, the marigold – makes an appearance in the Bible as one of the bitter herbs. More recently, in historical terms, it became known as the “pot marigold” because of its frequent use in soup pots. Orange blossom water, a staple in North African and Near Eastern cuisine, is a familiar flavour in Maltese kitchens, and rosewater has become familiar through the cuisines of the Middle East and south Asia and can easily be found on local shop shelves.

Flowers have traditionally brightened up what could otherwise have been a dull culinary landscape. Unlike the exotic spices that flavoured the meals of those living in wealthier households, wildflowers were within the reach of most. Flowers in food were especially popular in Victorian times, where a tea table would be laden with flower encrusted sweets, biscuits and cakes. They fell out of fashion in the 20th century as their particularity – the need to serve them fresh and soon after harvesting – is not readily compatible with the exigencies of industrial-scale food production.

You can buy ready-washed packs of edible flowers from the larger supermarkets, but it’s easy to grown and store your own. Even if you do not have a garden bathed in sunshine, you can still grow flowers for harvesting. All you need are a few pots and a sunny area on a window sill or balcony. Flowers can be harvested regularly and stored until needed. Regularly cutting flowers will encourage the plants to keep producing more blooms. Properly cleaned and sealed in an airtight container, they will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Pluck the flowers as close to the top of the stem as possible and shake them out to remove any loose debris. Then drop them into a large bowl of cold water and swirl them around to remove any dust or insects. Drain well and shake out in a colander to remove excess water, and spread them out on a clean cloth to air dry. Dabbing them with a paper towel will help to speed up the drying process. If you’re not going to use them immediately, store them in the fridge in an airtight container lined with a lightly dampened paper towel. Before serving, flowers that are looking limp can be freshened up by quick dip in very cold water.

Not all flowers are fit for consumption. Some types are poisonous and, if you suffer from allergies, eating flowers can aggravate the irritation. If in doubt about a particular flower, it’s best to avoid it altogether. Plants you buy from garden centres or supermarkets are likely to have been treated with pesticide and other chemicals. To be safe, only use flowers you have grown yourself and know to be free of pesticides, or buy flowers prepared specifically for consumption from a reliable supermarket.

All types of rose, especially the scented ones, add a mildly sweet flavor to anything from tea to soup and salad. Rose petal jam (see Taste&Flair’s February 2019 issue) makes a light, sweet and fragrant spread for cakes and bread. Lavender flowers add mild fragrance to sweets and cocktails. Try some sprinkled into a glass of champagne or scatter over chocolate icecream. Borage grows wild in several areas. The taste is mild and fresh, rather than sweet, quite like cucumber but not as bland. It adds a dash of colour to salad and works well in homemade lemonade or even gin and tonic. Carnation petals will add scent and colour to a green salad.

Perloganium flowers and geranium petals can be used to garnish sweet or savoury food. Use them to top cakes and biscuits, or toss them with a salad. Marigold petals can be mixed into jelly made with fresh orange juice or scattered over a salad. Brew hibiscus petals in hot water to make karkadé, a tart but sweet, deep red herbal drink that can be enjoyed hot or cold. Orange and yellow Nasturtium flowers have a surprisingly fresh and mildly peppery taste. The young leaves of the same plant can be used as the basis for a salad.

Any sweetly fragrant flower can be used to flavour sugar or butter. Mix chopped clean petals with sugar (1:2) and store in a closed jar for a week. The sugar granules will absorb the flower perfume and can be used to flavor and decorate cakes and biscuits. To make flavoured butter, mix 1 tablespoonful of clean, dry flower petals with three spoonfuls of softened butter. Pile spoonfuls of flavoured butter into a line on a piece of non-stick paper and roll it up to shape it into a log. Refridgerate until set and serve cut into thick slices.

New Pea and Mint Crostini

Strictly speaking, this is not a flower recipe, but you can add violet flowers for colour and flavour. Any quick and easy recipe is a useful standby, and this one is particularly convenient.

MAKES ABOUT 18 PIECES

200g shelled new peas

1 ½ tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 ½ tablespoons crème fraiche zest of 1 medium unwaxed lemon

salt and pepper

1 fresh baguette

1. Set a small pan of water to boil. When the water reaches boiling point, turn off the heat and drop in the peas. Leave for a minute then drain and immediately rinse in cold water.

2. Put the peas in a bowl and, using a fork or pestle, break up the peas by pressing and stirring until you end up with a coarse paste.

3. Add the crème fraiche, lemon zest and chopped mint, and stir in well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and keep refridgerated until needed.

4. When ready to serve, slice the baguette diagonally into pieces around 1 cm thick. Lightly toast until golden brown. Arrange the slices on a plate and allow to cool, then top with a teaspoonful of pea paste.

Fresh Flower Biscuits

Prepare the biscuits ahead and top them just before serving to keep the flowers looking fresh.

MAKES ABOUT 24

For the biscuits

185g plain flour

60g golden castor sugar

125g unsalted butter

TOPPING

edible flowers, preferably home grown - we used lavender, geranium, perloganium, and pansies

55g castor sugar

55ml water

1. Allow the butter to soften and warm up to room temperature then, using a wooden spoon, beat it together with the sugar until the mixture is smooth.

2. Mix in the flour, one tablespoon at a time, and blend in each spoonful before adding the next. The mixture should slowly turn into a thick, smooth dough.

3. Wrap the dough in cling film, or put it in a small covered bowl, and ‘rest’ it in the fridge for ten minutes.

4. Now, preheat the oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

5. Remove the dough from the fridge, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it out to around 1/2cm thick and use a biscuit cutter to make 4-5 cm rounds. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown. This will take 10-15 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven once they’re done and immediately transfer then to a wire rack to cool.

6. Make up the biscuit glaze by dissolving 55g of sugar in 55ml of water. Do this in a pan over a low heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Slowly bring the liquid to a boil and allow it to simmer for two minutes then immediately remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool.

7. Meanwhile, wash the edible flowers in cool, running water. Shake out the excess water and then spread the flowers out on a clean cloth to dry.

8. Using a pastry brush dipped in the cooled glaze, quickly ‘paint’ all the biscuits with a thin layer. Nip the petals off the flowers and lightly press down over the glazed surface. Once all the biscuits are topped, use the pastry brush to ‘paint’ over the flower petals.

8. Serve these with freshly brewed tea without milk. We enjoyed ours with chrysanthemum flower tea.

Lemon and Polenta Flower Cake

Polenta gives this cake a satisfying rough texture which can be enjoyed with or without the lemon syrup.

SERVES 6

100g polenta • 200g blanched, roughly ground almonds

200g golden castor sugar • 200g unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon baking powder • 2 whole eggs and 1 yolk

zest of two medium lemons

TOPPING

freshly cut edible flowers. We used perloganium, lavender and pansies. a few strands of lemon zest

SERVING SYRUP

juice of two medium lemons

70g golden castor sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C and line a 15cm cake tin with baking paper.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and beat again.

3. Now, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in well to stop the mixture curdling. Add the final yolk and beat again.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the polenta, ground almonds, and baking powder together. Fold the mixture into the beaten butter one large spoonful at a time.

5. Scrape the mixture into the lined cake tin and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for around 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes before removing it from the cake tin and transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Stir the lemon juice and sugar together in a pan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves completely. Then, remove it from the heat and let it stand until cool.

7. Wash the flowers under cool running water and then spread them out onto a clean dry cloth to air dry. If necessary, use a piece of kitchen paper to dab away any excess water.

8. Prick the cake all over the top using a fork and pour the syrup onto the cake a little at a time, allow it to sink in before adding more. Reserve any leftover syrup for serving.

9. Arrange the flower heads over the cake top just before serving.

Nasturtium and Borage Salad

Borage and nasturtium growing by the roadside are best left where they are. To avoid the effects of traffic pollution, harvest flowers in an area which is not busy. Better still, grow your own plants at home.

YOU WILL NEED

several handfuls of baby

nasturtium leaves

1 handful nasturtium flowers

1 handful borage flowers

GARNISH

one whole marigold flower head

1. Wash the leaves and flowers separately in cold, running water. Shake out the excess liquid and spread them out on a clean cloth to dry.

2. Spread the leaves on a serving dish, toss them with nasturtium flowers, and borage flowers over the top.

3. Serve immediately with extra virgin olive oil on the side.

Photography: Megan Mallia, assisted by Helene Asciak

Patinated copper: Marie Louise Kold