Edible Flowers--Introduction

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

26 May 2007 12:12 PM

My first introduction to the world of edible flowers was last summer when my children took a gardening class at the New York Botanical Gardens. (This program, by the way, is easily some of the best money I've spent on programs for my kids.) Every week my kids come bounding out of the program with large bags of produce in hand.

Being the cook that I am, I usually have lots of fun using their vegetables in the food that I make. It helps them make the connection between the food we eat and what it takes to get from the ground onto our plates.

But one morning the kids came bounding out with a large bag of. . .lovely purple flowers. "You can put them on the salad to make it prettier mom." Not wanting to show anything but enthusiasm to my daughter I just kind of looked at the purple things and said, "Oh". Why on earth would anyone put purple plants on their salads?

Well as it turns out--I was just uneducated. There are all manner of purple things to put in salads including purple beans--cousins of the green bean. And just like my daughter said, those edible flowers made the salad look fantastic and they were tasty with a little blue cheese too!

Cooking and garnishing with flowers enjoyed a height of popularity during the Victorian era. (It is rumored that Queen Victoria enjoyed flowers in all of her dishes.) In addition, it is common in other cuisines to cook with flowers. However, edible flowers are making a come back as a main stay in the dishes of those who dare to cook on the more exotic side.

Flowers You Probably Already Eat

You probably already eat a bunch of flowers anyways. (If you don't at least you've heard of these edible flowers!) Broccoli, cauliflower and artichokes are all flowers. Saffron, the spice, is actually the stamen from the crocus flower. Capers are unopened flower buds from a bush native in the Mediterranean and Asian nations.

So which flowers can you eat? Look in the upcoming days for what flowers are good to eat and in what type of dishes you can use them.

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (60086) 26 May 2007 02:41 PM

This is always something that I wanted to try......but haven't yet. I have seen a few edible flowers in the salad aisle, but they were pretty costy too.

Actually, I was also considering sugaring some of the flowers and placing them on baked goods. I have seen these in high end magazines. Gorgeous!

Thank you for this topic, Valorie.

Did they taste yummy?

Valorie Delp (49340) 26 May 2007 03:56 PM

If you like flowers. . .sure they tasted yummy! What they do really is make the dish interesting, IMO. I'm not a big salad fan. I probably wouldn't pay for them though--not worth it.

Julie Gentry (5915) 26 May 2007 10:57 PM

We used to eat rose petals as kids. Just put a little salt on them. Good stuff.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 29 May 2007 12:12 PM

I've been fascinated with edible flowers ever since I watched a friend pull some flowers out of her garden and toss them in a salad. Two things she told me: Make sure you know exactly what you are using as some non-edible flowers can look like edible ones, and make sure that no pesticides were used in growing the flowers.

Aimee Amodio (11995) 29 May 2007 03:47 PM

A lot of these edible flowers could probably make teas, too... though I don't know if I'd want to have an all-flower meal. ;)

Valorie Delp (49340) 29 May 2007 04:03 PM

I gotta say. . .I barely like salad! An all flower meal? YUCK! ;-) But you're right. . .maybe that's next week's blog topic! LOL