Flowers are making a comeback — on the plate
In Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate, rose petals are used to flavour a sauce for quail. After eating the sensuous meal the cook’s sister is so overcome with lust, her rosy scent attracts a rebel soldier from battle. He rides to the ranch and scoops her up onto his horse and makes love to her as they ride away into the sunset.
Eating flowers does have romantic connotations, albeit the example above may be a bit ambitious, but it makes for a lovely tale of magical realism.
The best way to know that the flowers you are eating are both edible and free of pesticides is to grow them yourself. With the warm weather finally arriving, it is a good time to plan some patio/deck pot plants that can be enjoyed with meals later in the season. Many edible flowers are both beautiful and easy to grow and can be used in a variety of savoury or sweet culinary applications.
Flowers have been used to infuse teas and tonics for many years, think chamomile, mint, hibiscus and rose petals. Romans used herbal flowers, roses and violets in their foods. In China, daylily petals are a crucial ingredient in hot and sour soup. In Italy, stuffed squashed blossoms are deep fried and eaten. Flower consumption reached its peak during the Victorian era when elderberry flowers and rose petals were a common ingredient in many dishes.
Lately flowers have made a comeback to the plate, particularly in restaurants, their colour and romantic whimsy subtlety enhancing both palate and price. In British Columbia it is law that any flower appearing in a beverage or on a plate in a restaurant must be edible. This law does not always apply in other places.
Many flowers have different common names so it is important when choosing flowers to eat that they are in fact the edible variety. For example, we grow and eat sweet peas but the ornamental, beautifully scented sweet pea flower is highly poisonous. The best way to ensure that a flower is edible is to select flowers using their botanical name. The poison sweet pea’s botanical name is Lathyrus spp., while the edible varieties (snow pea, sugar snap pea, English pea) go by Pisum spp. This information can easily be found in books and on some Web sites, although using the Web should be only to back check as the information is not always reliable. One of the best cooking/gardening combo books on the subject is Edible Flowers From Garden to Palate, written by Cathy Wilkinson Barash. The gardening part of the book is most comprehensive and a worthwhile authority on the subject. The recipes that accompany the chapters are beautiful but zealous. Many dishes come from top restaurant chefs in North America and are intimidating for the average home cook. Nevertheless, the dishes look beautiful and taste wonderful.
Flowers do have individual flavours which lend themselves to different dishes. Some ways to use flowers in the kitchen, aside from garnishes, are to incorporate them in jellies, freeze them in ice cubes for summer cocktails, toss with salads for added colour and taste, crystalize and add to desserts or cookies or use to infuse oils or vinegars to be used in vinaigrettes or marinades. French perfume designer Christophe Chabaud, following the trend of aromatherapy, has created a line of edible essences that can be added to foods and cocktails. Martinis can be enhanced by lavender, honeysuckle or lemon balm. Some flowers can be eaten whole, like purple chive flowers or pansies and some are better eaten as petals only, like rose, lavender, tulip and calendula petals. The white part at the base of many petals can be bitter and should be removed before using in dishes.
When picking flowers to be eaten it is best to pick them in the morning or the evening when their water content is highest. They should be used within a few hours of being picked. Wash them gently in a bowl of water and let them air dry. Flowers can be kept between layers of damp paper towel placed in a plastic bag in the fridge or in a vase in a cool place to keep them fresh for a few hours. Inspect carefully for insects before eating.
Following are a few planting suggestions that are successfully grown during our short summer season but this is by no means an exhaustive list. Remember too that flowers from herbs like basil, dill, chives or coriander can all be eaten – they taste like their parent plants but slightly milder. Even if you decide you don’t like the taste of certain flowers, they are always beautiful to look at. Choose an organic soil for plantings and make sure that any fertilizer you use is also safe for consumption.
Nasturtium
: ( Tropaeolum majus) Beautifully bright, orange and yellow flowers with great green foliage that can trail like vines or be trained up trellises. They are best grown in full sun and don’t need an overly rich soil – in fact, sandy, well-drained soil will produce more flowers. These flowers have a very strong peppery taste to them that can really bite the tongue. They are a great addition to salads or integrated into pasta and meat dishes as a peppery boost.Pansy:
( Violaceae) These flowers grow well in cooler environments so they are a great spring or autumn flower. Given partial shade and moist but well-drained soil they will do well in pots or garden beds. Their flavour, when eaten whole, is distinctly wintergreen so they pair well with desserts and fruit. They are very colourful flowers ranging from deep purples to yellow – very pretty in foods.English Lavender:
(Lavandula angustifolia) Lavender is a well known edible flower and favourite essential oil used in aromatherapy and beauty products. Lavender honey is a special gourmet treat. This variety of lavender is best for eating – it is a hardy perennial that is not as delicate as its French cousin. The flowers have a very strong floral perfume taste and should be used in moderation so the dish does not taste too much like perfume or soap. Potted, lavender can be brought inside and sat on a sunny windowsill through the winter. Sweet dishes like sorbet and ice cream made from lavender are unusual and tasty but the flavour pairs well with fish as well.Scented Geranium:
(Pelargonium spp.) These flowers are well suited to growing in containers and come in many varieties of scents and tastes, rose geraniums being the most popular but there are lemon and nutmeg scented flowers as well. They need moist soil and a sunny location. Their flavour is a mild version of what their foliage smells like – usually a floral rose or citrus flavour. Rose geranium jelly is a popular recipe using these flowers.Tuberous Begonia
(Hybrid tuberous begonia only): (Begoniaceae) These are beautiful flowers to grow in pots and in hanging baskets. They are colourful, ranging from hot pinks and reds to white and yellow. They also come in different shapes. Their flavour is tangy and citrus so they are good in salads, with fish or in dips.If you are prone to allergic reactions, flowers can set them off. Try flowers in moderation and be aware that there can be side effects. Mixing different coloured flowers together makes a beautiful "confetti" to sprinkle over finished dishes.
The following recipe is taken from Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate. It comes from Jose Gutierrez, executive chef, Chez Philippe, Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee.
Orange and Lavender Sorbet
• 1 quart freshly squeezed orange juice, divided
• 9 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon lavender flowers, finely chopped
In a non-aluminum saucepan heat 2 cups of orange juice with the sugar. Stir to mix. Add lavender flowers and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain. Pour the liquid into the remaining 2 cups of orange juice and mix. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop into glasses and serve garnished with additional chopped lavender. Pour a splash of cointreau on top for an interesting variation.
Serves 6-8.
