Flowers add colour, fragrance and flavour to all manner of culinary delights. With so many different varieties to spice up your cooking, nature on a plate has never looked so good.
Pretty blooms are not only pleasing to the eye and the palate; they add a delightful layer of texture and vibrancy to food. Some edible petals are tangy, others add herbaceous flavours and some are subtle and taste just the way they smell: exotically fragrant.
Edible flowers have featured in culinary dishes for centuries. In ancient Greece, Egypt and China, they were part of a cook’s culinary repertoire. Flowers are now making a bold comeback and many contemporary chefs incorporate them into their signature dishes. Why don’t you try them for yourself and wow your guests at your next gathering?
Blooming tasty
One of the best ways to source flowers for food is to grow them. Edible varieties of commercially grown flowers may be sprayed with chemicals, so can’t be eaten. Some flower varieties are also toxic, so only pick and eat flowers you know are pesticide-free consumable species.
Grow edible flowers according to their individual requirements: each species has its own soil, orientation and watering needs. Check with a nursery for advice on local growing conditions for a particular plant species — and label your plants. It’s also usually recommended not to overeat edible flowers. Just like chocolate, a little bit of what you love is OK but it’s not always wise to overindulge.
Control pests using appropriate measures such as companion planting, hand removal of caterpillars and snails, eco-oil or a sprinkle of diatomaceous earth, a soft sedimentary rock that’s edible but kills bugs.
Pick flowers in the early morning and be careful not to crush them as you gather what you need. Check thoroughly for bugs and discard crushed or torn petals. Rinse under water and store the flowers in a cool place. If it’s a warm spring or summer day, place them in the fridge in a container to keep them fresh.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Eat Well #24-Ausgabe von Eat Well.
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ARE YOU TO FU enough?
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion about tofu. Tofu is a very popular plant-based protein for vegans and vegetarians, but now this humble bean curd is starting to shine for meat lovers too as an alternative source of protein.
Sweet TRAYBAKES
Whether you want to feed a group of people or make a batch of treats for the week, traybaking is a no-fuss way to cook up something sweet and easy that will please everyone. Your family and friends will love you when you offer them some of our: cinnamon scrolls; fruity chocolate; espresso brownies; lemon & coconut slice; or ginger cake with brown butter frosting.
ROLL UP
When you roll food, whether in Lebanese bread, a thin pancake or whatever you choose, you can create a parcel of nutrition that is perfectly suited to your own tastes and needs. Here are some roll-up recipes that will suit every occasion including: mango, snow pea, & sprout rice paper rolls; oat crepes with coconut yoghurt & mixed berries; or beef meatball & tzatziki flatbreads.
RICE BOWL Lunches
If you are working from home, or even enjoying your weekend, and lunchtime rolls around but you have no plans for lunch, then a rice bowl is an ideal saviour.
PLANT-BASED PIES
Pies are a piece of gastronomic brilliance: a filling with a case and lid you can eat is food genius. The first pies date back to Egyptian times and there is a recipe for chicken pie that was carved into stone more than 4000 years ago. For millennia, however, the pie casing was mostly used to cook the filling, but for around 500 years or more we have been eating the pie crust too.
20 FOOD CRAVING HACKS
Decipher the deeper causes of your cravings and discover tricks to curtail them.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L)
Eggplant is a wonderful option for vegans and vegetarians, extremely nutritious and highly versatile in the kitchen.
5 PANTRY SAVIOURS
Whether you're cooking a simple breakfast or something more exotic, here are five pantry food staples you should have on hand to cook plenty of delicious meals in the comfort of your own home.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Cucumbers are delicious fresh but they also offer plenty more options in the kitchen.
Our Chefs
Meet the chefs who bring this issue's recipes to you: Lisa Guy, Georgia Harding, Lee Holmes, Sammy Jones, Raquel Neofit, Naomi Sherman and Ames Starr.
