Even if springtime is a little bit late, it’s time to get ready for edible flowers time. Some of them are really delicious, some only nice to use as a decoration for your plate. But all of them can give you the joy of springtime in your dishes. There are a lot of edible flowers, from the wild ones, to the garden flowers, and the invasive alien plants. Let’s start with the wild ones.
I decided to group them by colour, because it’s yhe main thing you notice at once.
WHITE
Bellis perennis – lawn daisy. Beautiful, but nearly tasteless. Perfect for food plating.Leucanthemum spp. – Daisy. Big flower, very decorative, buds pickled like capers are excellent!Robinia pseudoacacia – Black locust. Flowers are fleshy, sweet and fragrant. Excellent if deep fried, for jelly and cakes.Sambucus nigra – elderflowers. Strong scent, very good to cook or for food presentation.Allium ursinum – ramps. Beautiful flowers, but they obviously smell like garlic.Daucus carota – Queen Anne’s lace. Taste and smell carrot-like, very mild.Filipendula ulmaria – meadowsweet. Very sweet and strong scent. Not everybody likes it.
YELLOW
Taraxacum officinale – dandelion. Sweet as honey, but with a distinct touch of bitter given by the green involucre. You can use it raw or cooked in cakes, cookies, jelly.Primula veris – cowslip. Really nice flower, but nearly tasteless. Good for food plating.Galium verum – lady’s bedstraw. Very sweet and strong scent. Good to be eaten raw or cooked, but don’t use it in milk or cream… it will make them curdled.
VIOLET AND PINK
Salvia pratensis – meadow sage. Vibrant blue violet flowers, taste like mild sage.Godd both for food plating or cooked (cakes, starters, omelettes, etc..)Centaurea cyanus – cornflower. Petals taste is grass-like. The stem is very bitter.Cichorium intybus – Common chicory. Although the flower is edible, it is very bitterBorago officinalis – borage. Beautiful star-shaped flower. Mild taste resembling cucumber. Excellent in herbal tea and for food plating.Trifolium pratense – red clover. Mild sweet and taste similar to a freshly picked green beanThymus serpyllum aggr. – Breckland thyme.Epilobium angustifolium – fireweed or rosebay willowherb. Slightly sweet, and very mildly astringent. Can be eaten raw. Excellent for jelly.Allium lusitanicum, mountain garlic. Very nice tiny flowers, tastes like garlic. Ideal for herb cheeses and quiches.Polygonum bistorta, Persicaria bistorta or Bistorta officinalis – bistort. Very nice flowers, not really tasty though. good for food plating.
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