Flowers on the Menu
Botching a summer reception is difficult. The weather is mild, crunchy fruits and vegetables abound, herbs are fresh and sweet smelling. Furthermore, the fragrance of flowers fills the air, whether in bouquets around the house, in pots along the windowsills, or in flower boxes on the balcony. However, have you ever thought of serving them on a plate? Flowers on the menu: a visual and gastronomical delight!
The idea isn’t new. Moroccans enjoy jasmine as well as flowers from the citron and orange trees. The Japanese prepare chrysanthemum doughnuts wrapped in a light batter and seared in very hot cooking fat. In China, a variety of lilies are dried, rehydrated and used in a number of preparations.
Many recipes require the petals of roses, nasturtiums, and pansies. Consider, for example, begonia soup, broccoli with mimosa, a risotto with nasturtium flowers and cookies meringued with roses. Flower jams, liqueurs and jellies are a lot better tasting than appearances might suggest. Glazed in sugar, crystallized flowers and petals are not mere decorations. Rose and violet petals lend a refined and crisp flavour and a sophisticated touch to any dessert. While these flowered candies take a while to prepare, they keep for several weeks, if protected from light.
But beware: not all flowers are edible. And precautions must be taken even for those that are. Flowers cultivated with the help of fertilizers and pesticides, such as those florists sell, are off limits. Flowers bought from garden centres must be quarantined so that all the pesticides can evaporate. Only those flowers whose origins are known, in other words those found in your garden, should be used. Pick them early in the morning and before they’ve fully bloomed. To avoid: obviously, the belladonna, the purple foxglove, the christmas rose, the poppy, the meadow saffron, lily of the valley, jonquils, and narcissi. As for the others, why not plant nasturtiums, pansies, garden marigolds, daisies and sunflowers – while keeping an eye on their growth, of course. Also, do not underestimate dandelion flowers; these little golden suns are delicious in both a salad with spinach and nasturtium flowers, and in a sugary omelette.
Like capers, nasturtium flower-buds can be preserved in vinegar. While a bit more coriaceous than capers, they are also more fragrant. Served either fried or stuffed with mushroom duxelles, summer squash flowers are a longstanding ingredient in many kitchens. They are found particularly in Italian markets during the zucchini season. Scallops, macerated raw in lemon juice, served with slices of green apples and endives, sprinkled with rose petals and decorated with strands of chive, make a meal that is at once ravishing and exotic. Stun your guests even more with a potato salad filled with garden-marigold, daisy and nasturtium petals.
Despite a sophisticated appearance, flower recipes are in fact quite easy to make. Cleanliness and knowledge of the origin of the flowers is key. Flowers should be added to the ingredients at the last minute and not cooked in the seasoning. Whether sweet, pungent, peppered, or acidulous, flowers are pleasant-tasting and their colour and flavour bring life to any ordinary dish: rice, pasta, omelette or salad.
Have you ever considered adding flavour to bottled water or to light aperitifs with flowers? Simply fill your ice-cube tray with fresh water and place a pretty and fully-bloomed flower in each cube. Freeze and bring out when the guests arrive.