- ESTHER OERTEL
- Posted On
Mensam Mundum – World Table: Flowers in the kitchen
To quote a favorite verse, “Flowers appear in our land; the season of singing has come.”
Spring is my favorite season, and I truly do feel like bursting into song (my heart sings, at least) when wildflowers spread madly in Lake County fields clamoring for our grateful attention. The colors are astonishing, a feast for the eyes and soul.
And as if that weren’t enough, the beauty of flowers in the field or garden can become part of what we create in our kitchens. Many are edible and can be used to add uncommon flavor to our dishes, as well as vivid color.
There are far too many edible blooms to chronicle completely here (a good internet search or thorough book can do that), but I’ve curated a diverse list of nine that can grace our plates.
Apple blossoms
The pink-white blossoms of the apple tree are among the first to appear in our small orchard, and I think of them as harbingers of spring.
Like me, the bees are fond of these graceful blooms, and I occasionally find myself hypnotized as I watch them buzz from flower to flower.
Apple blossoms are quite aromatic, scented with nuances of wild rose, jasmine, water lily and honey. This isn’t surprising, as apple trees are relatives of the rose.
As to flavor, they’re described as being subtly like honeysuckle, with a delicate texture, making for a delightful addition to a fruit salad (they’re particularly nice with pear, apricot, lemon and quince) or as a garnish on any plate.
They may be dried and steeped as a tea (some claim apple blossom tea relieves stress and aids digestion), made into jelly or syrup, and even aged in vodka for an aromatic cordial.
As a plus, apple blossoms are high in antioxidants, which are important in ridding the body of free radicals, unstable molecules which can damage cells in the body.
Borage
Starflower and bee bread, two of the herb borage’s aliases, are inspired by its five-pointed flowers, which are immensely attractive to honeybees. If you happen upon a borage plant in bloom, chances are bees will be busy burrowing into its enticing blue blossoms.
Borage’s beautiful Wedgewood-blue blooms may be employed as an edible garnish for salads, fruit dishes, soups and desserts. They have a honey-like taste and are one of the few truly blue edible foods found in nature.
Borage is easily grown in one’s backyard. In fact, it reseeds itself so prolifically that it’s more likely to take over a garden space than fail to thrive. It’s a recommended companion plant for legumes, strawberries, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, and brassicas such as broccoli and cauliflower.
Dandelions
Dandelions are prolific and can be found almost everywhere. Though often thought of as an invasive weed, dandelions can be quite useful, as every part is edible, from root to green to bloom. In addition, they’re highly nutritious and have been used in home remedies through the years.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
In contrast to the bitterness of dandelion greens, the flowers are sweet and crunchy. Dandelion blossoms can be made into wine, jelly or syrup, or infused into lemonade. The fluffy yellow petals can be a surprise ingredient in cookies or other baked goods. Blooms can be breaded and fried, made into fritters or simply sautéed in butter.
Unopened buds can be marinated and used in much the same way capers are.
Dandelion blooms are best harvested when the sun is shining and the blooms are fully open. When using, be sure to remove any green that remains under the flower, as it will impart a bitter flavor.
Lavender
There are many types of lavender (well over 25), but the lavender used in cuisine is the English variety, so called because the Romans brought lavender with them when they conquered southern Britain. What they planted there was the ancestor of the many varieties of English lavender we know today.
Though lavender is most widely known in the sunny Mediterranean region, it is speculated that this member of the mint family originated in Asia. It’s grown in gardens throughout the world, and since lavender cross-pollinates easily, there are countless variations within each species.
Lavender can be used in a wide swath of culinary genres, both sweet and savory.
It can be made into vinegars, salad dressings, flavored oils, and rubs for fish and meat. It flavors whipped cream and chocolate, is baked into scones and is added to lemonade. It’s added to stews, sauces and ice cream, makes a fragrant aioli, and is delicious when paired with goat cheese. It’s steeped for tea, flavors coffee and adds an aromatic element to spiced teas, such as lavender chai.
The trick to using lavender in cuisine is to have a light hand. It has a very strong flavor, and as lavender is also used to scent perfumes, shampoos, lotions and the like, too much lavender can make food tasty unpleasantly soapy.
My favorite pairing for lavender is lemon (think lavender lemonade or lavender-lemon scones), but its sweet, fragrant flavor complements a range of foods, including strawberries, pears, orange, honey, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, black pepper and chocolate.
Lilac
My love affair with lilac began when I was a child in upstate New York. Our rented farmhouse had glorious lilac bushes flanking our front porch and I was enticed by the smell of them.
More recently, I was thrilled to learn that we have lilac bushes at our current home. They surprised me by blooming during our first spring here, making a childhood dream unexpectedly fulfilled.
What makes it more wonderful is that the flowers of the lilac are edible. With a lemony and pungently floral taste, these blooms have a variety of culinary uses.
They can be made into jelly, infused into vinegar, tossed into salads or added to scones, cakes or cookies.
Blooms can be soaked in vodka for a few weeks to make lilac cordial or can be made into wine.
Lilac blossoms, whether fresh or candied, can beautifully decorate cakes and other baked goods, and delicate lilac-infused sugar is perfect for baking. Lilac flowers can be infused into a simple sugar syrup to flavor iced tea, lemonade or to make Italian sodas.
It’s lovely to see pink buds slowly sprouting into light purple blooms on our lilac bushes. I can’t wait to use them to create delicious lilac concoctions!
Nasturtiums
When I was a girl, my mother, a chef, garnished plates in our family restaurant with nasturtiums from our garden.
These relatives of watercress and mustard have been used in culinary applications through the centuries. Nearly every part of the plant is edible – blossoms, leaves, stems and seeds – making them a natural for edible landscapes.
If you’re lucky enough to have these bright beauties in your garden, they should be ripe for the culinary picking from late spring through early summer and beyond.
The blossoms can be added to salads, floated in drinks, made into vinaigrette, tossed atop pizza, become a star in risotto, and can even be featured in spring rolls along with carrots, cucumbers, mint and the like.
The blossoms have a somewhat peppery flavor (though mild and sweet) and they have far more to offer than their common use as a graceful garnish.
When stuffed with cream cheese and chives (or other herbs, if you like), they make a wonderful appetizer. Guacamole works well as a filling, too.
Nasturtium-lemon butter may be made by combining the blossoms with softened butter and a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest.
And lastly, when eating the blossoms out of hand in the garden, be sure to look for a longish spur just under the flower head. These are full of nectar and are a sweet treat when eaten. As kids, my brother and I used to pinch them off near the tip and suck the nectar out.
Redbud blossoms
This is the time of year when masses of bright magenta-pink blossoms sit like clouds on redbud trees throughout Lake County. It’s hard to drive anywhere without noticing them along the roadways.
The California redbud, namesake of local parks, is actually a member of the legume family. This shrub played an important role in California native culture for centuries, most significantly for basketry.
The bright pink blooms add color and flavor when tossed raw in salads. They can also be pickled or added to sorbets and baked goods like muffins.
Their flavor is interesting, best described as a green bean-like flavor with a lemony aftertaste.
Roses
The rose may be the most popular edible flower on our planet.
Recipes utilizing rose as an ingredient are quite diverse, including fresh tuna salad, pesto, rosewater rice, rose-basted chicken and a medieval bread with raisins. Rose is used to flavor sorbet, ice cream, jams and cookies.
It imparts a subtle, aromatic flavor to a diversity of dishes, both sweet and savory, and is popular throughout the world, especially in the cuisines of Middle Eastern countries, parts of Asia and Western Europe.
Fresh petals may be used for making tea, rose petal butter or rose sugar. The flavor may be extracted from the petals by making rose water or rose syrup, both ingredients used in cooking.
Rose petals can garnish vanilla ice cream or be mixed in a salad with baby greens. Whole petals can be floated in a punchbowl, and chopped petals can be frozen in ice cubes for an interesting drink accompaniment.
All rose varieties are edible and there are differences in flavor depending on the type. Not surprisingly, those with darker colors have more pronounced flavors.
Wild violets
When I think of violets, a lovely metaphor comes to mind: “Forgiveness is the scent of the violet on the heel that crushes it.” Authorship of this beautiful phrase is often attributed to Mark Twain, but there is no evidence that it was he who penned it.
One thing is certain: violets grace our nostrils with a fragrance as beautiful as forgiveness. They also please our palates with sweet flavor.
Many species grow wild throughout North America, including in California, typically blooming in the spring. Colors range from purple to yellow to white, and most have heart-shaped leaves. Thankfully these delicate-looking plants can be easily cultivated in a home garden, making them available to us without foraging in the wild.
Violets are often added to salads for color and flavor, but the culinary applications don’t stop there. They can be used to make vinegar, jelly, tea and syrup, and fresh or candied violets often decorate desserts.
Violet blossoms are rich in vitamins A and C (by weight they have more vitamin C than an orange), and the leaves, also rich in these vitamins, may be used as well as the flowers.
There is one note of caution, however. Wild violets should not be confused with African violets, a houseplant that is NOT edible. Though they share a name, they are unrelated. Edible violets are of the genus Viola, and the African violet genus is Streptocarpus.
Today’s recipe is for floral jelly, appropriate for many different varieties of flowers. Of the flowers covered here, I’d recommend apple blossoms, dandelions, lilac, roses or violets. You may combine types; just be sure the flavor profiles are compatible.
How to make floral jelly
Gather 2 cups blossoms. Apple blossoms, dandelions, lilac, roses or violets are recommended. (If using dandelion blooms, be sure all green under the flower is removed to avoid bitterness.)
Create a tea by pouring 4 cups boiling water over blooms.
Allow to cool, then place in refrigerator for 24 hours to fully infuse.
After steeping, strain well, squeezing out as much liquid as possible.
Measure out 3-1/2 to 4 cups of the floral-infused liquid and pour it into a large pot.
Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 pouch of powdered pectin. Bring this to a boil.
Add 4 cups of sugar, stir well and return to a boil.
Boil the jelly for 1 to 2 minutes and remove from the heat.
Since flowers can lose their vibrant color when processed, add a little food coloring, if desired.
Pour the jelly into hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
Run a spatula around the inside edge to remove any air bubbles. Then wipe the edge of the jar clean and place the lids and rings on tight.
Place the jars in a water bath canner and process for 10 minutes or according to your altitude.
Remove the jars from the canner and place on a towel. Allow them to sit undisturbed for 24 hours to let the seal harden.
Any jars that haven’t sealed need to be put in the fridge to use first or reprocessed.
Yield: About four cups of jelly
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.