Feasting on Flowers by Susan Campbell
Bright, beautiful, delicate and exotic, fresh flowers are a delight to the senses… but did you know that they can also be incredibly edible?
Flower cookery has roots in ancient Rome and grew to great popularity during Elizabethan times. Today, many innovative chefs are adding creative cachet to their recipes with blossoms and blooms. Here’s a potpourri of ways to incorporate flowers into your home cooking. Tickle your taste buds by tossing these into salads:
• Lavender flowery sweet, with a hint
of citrus • Nasturtiums sweet, spicy • Orchids ranges from somewhat sweet
to like raw chives • Pansies sweet, grassy flavor
• Borage cool, cucumber taste • Queen Anne’s lace carrot-like • Carnations sugary sweet • Scented geraniums flavors will • Chrysanthemums peppery, cauliflower-like
correspond to their scents • Tulips sweet, cucumber-like (remove the
stamens from male flowers, they are bitter) • Violas, violets sweet,
mild wintergreen 왘
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Top photo by Joan Vicent Cantó Roig. Bottom photo by Elke Dennis
Roses of all varieties are delicious, each with their own distinctive taste. Use them to flavor syrups, sprinkle over desserts, or crush them into butters and spreads. Marigolds are called a “poor man’s saffron”. They can really spice up stews, sauces, soups and rice. Young dandelions taste like honey (avoid older flowers, they are bitter); you can flash-fry, sauté or steam them as a side dish, or even eat them raw. Sundry unopened daylilies to add to a stir-fry. Or, candy-coat edible flowers to decorate cakes: brush them with finely whisked egg white and dip into superfine sugar. Let them dry overnight on waxed paper. Now that you know how to turn a gardenvariety bouquet into a banquet, go and get creative with your cooking! 왎
IMPORTANT POSY POINTERS Never eat flowers from a florist as they are sprayed with pesticide. Always check with an authoritative source about the edibility of a flower species; some are poisonous! Allergy sufferers should be cautious when eating flowers, and may want to avoid them altogether.
FLOWERS FIT TO BE FRIED Try this easy recipe using zucchini or pumpkin blossoms for a delectable treat. Combine 1 cup of soft cheese or clam meat, 1 tsp of minced garlic and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stuff blossoms with a spoonful of the mixture. Dip in a batter of 1 egg, ½ cup flour, ¼ cup water and ¼ cup milk. Flash-fry in very hot oil. Drain on paper towel. Enjoy immediately! 16
Cake photo by Hazel Proudlove. Other photos by Comugnero Silvana