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Flowers to dine for. The gentle art of using culinary flowers

Flowers to dine for

The gentle art of using culinary flowers

The blast of sun and heat this balmy Easter weekend super-charged the daffies and got the green blood flowing in every gardener’s veins. With flower power growing every day, there’s no better time to think about getting these gorgeous things out of the vase and onto your dinnerplate – even check out those Easter bouquets for edible options.

If you think you’ve never eaten a flower, you’re probably wrong. Most of us love artichokes, which are simply immature flowers, and likely the biggest flowers we’ll ever eat. Then there’s good old broccoli. Those tiny green buds eventually open into yellow flowers, often in your crisper drawer if you forget them at the bottom.

Flowers can go flamboyant or international. Candied violas garnish creations in patisseries throughout France. Rose water lends a lovely fragrant note to East Indian sweets. Day lily petals are integral to Chinese hot and sour soup. Or they can come in a very humble form – you’ve likely tried simple herbal teas replete with flowers. Chamomile, hibiscus and orange blossoms are common favourites.

So why did dinner guests on one festive occasion squawk like geese when they spied the calendula petals on a chocolate cake I was serving?

"People just haven’t been exposed to the idea of eating flowers," says Bernard Casavant, the creative wizard behind Chef Bernard’s Café, and a longtime advocate of using culinary flowers. "They are used to flowers as the centerpiece on the table. You will see a lot of people use them as a garnish, but few actually eat them."

Perhaps the reticence stems from certain preconceptions: we eat vegetables, which are practical, and not flowers, which are precious. Some people might even think that flowers are harmful, since no one has taught them otherwise.

The practical bits of flower eating

First and foremost, know thy source. Ensure that your flowers come from a place free from herbicides and weed-and-feed fertilizers. Chef Bernard goes one step further and cautions against using everyday flowers, even for garnishes. Once edible flowers are in season, usually around Father’s Day, he only uses reliable sources like Lillooet Lake Herbs, on the way to Lillooet, and Across the Creek Organics, in Pemberton Valley. Culinary flowers are those that are second-generation herbicide/pesticide free. So even if you grow your own flowers from seed, you really should use them only after the second generation since seeds are often treated with fungicides and other chemicals.

When it comes to flower tasting, think of it a bit like wine tasting. Once you’re sure your flower is free from contaminants, including bugs, nibble a petal. Close your eyes and savour the flavour. You don’t usually gobble down the whole thing; it’s more a petal-by-petal experience.

Remove the stamens and styles and the sepals of all flowers except violas, Johnny jump-ups, and pansies. Use only the petals of some flowers, such as roses, calendulas, tulips, chrysanthemums and lavender. If there’s a whitish base, break it away first; it’s often bitter.

Also, always sample a flower before cooking. Different growing conditions, even in your own garden, can affect how they taste.

Flowers to plant and dine for

If you’re starting to clank the dirt off your garden tools and thumb through gardening books, why not plant a few florals that both look and taste good.

CALENDULAS and NASTURTIUMS

Calendulas are a cinch to grow. Unlike my dinner guests who doth protest too much, I’ve been munching calendula petals since I was a kid. Calendula petals and nasturtium flowers were favourites from my granny’s garden, often eaten on a dare from older cousins. The taste is mild; the main attraction is the fabulous orange colour. Nasturtiums are much zestier, tangy or peppery like cress, and, bonus, you can use the leaves in salads. The first recorded culinary use of calendulas was in Roman times, when they were used as a poor man’s substitute for saffron – chop fresh petals finely before drying them.

CHIVE and MINT BLOSSOMS

If you are tiptoeing into flower tasting, these two are a good place to start. Most of us will happily grab a handful of chives from the garden, chop the stems into a dish, discarding the blooms. Next time, don’t. Not only are the brilliant violet chive flowers stunning eye candy, they are also delicious. Just don’t use the whole flower at one go. The oniony flavour can be quite strong, so break the whole flower into its individual florets.

Mint blossoms often suffer a similar fate. We’re used to using the green leaves and rejecting the delicate flowers. Whether you grow apple mint, peppermint or spearmint, try the flowers next time you harvest.

DAY LILIES

When you’re ready to venture out with your flower-tasting, try another West Coast favourite, the day lily. These trumpet-shaped blossoms announce summer in many local gardens, blooming for a day or two before dying. While the colours are many, yellows, oranges and reds are most common. The lighter coloured petals are sweeter. In Chinatown, you’ll find the dried flower petals sold as "golden needles", a key ingredient in hot and sour soup. A warning: day lilies have diuretic properties. They may also act as a laxative, so enjoy in moderation.

ELDERBERRY

Here’s one you won’t have to plant. We’re so lucky to have elderberry bushes growing wild in this corner of B.C. The white fluffy heads of blossoms are both sweet-scented and sweet-tasting. Don’t wash them before eating – that will remove much of the fragrance and flavour. But do check carefully for insects.

ENGLISH DAISIES AND DANDELIONS

What the dandelion is to North Americans, the English daisy is to the Brits. Both are the scourge of their native lands, both are edible, and both are prized beyond their native borders. The English daisy’s flowers have a mildly bitter taste. Dandelion blossoms have a sweet honey-like flavour when picked young. As the flowers mature, they become bitter. Remove the bitter green sepals before use. In Europe, the flowers are popular for tea, wine and beer-making. Wherever you get your dandelions or daisies, make sure you pick from pesticide-free areas!

LAVENDER

Lavender grows nicely in Whistler. You may lose a plant or two to harsh winters, but it’s still worth the effort. These flowers have a distinctive perfumy flavour, which can be very intense, so use it sparingly. The flowers are flavourful fresh or dried, and make a nice highlight for orange and blueberry flavours. My first taste of lavender was in ice cream in a tiny French village – wow! Chef Bernard suggests infusing sugar with lavender (or geranium) petals, beautiful on crème brulée. Warning: steer clear of lavender oil for culinary use. It may be poisonous.

PANSIES

The name "pansy" comes from the French "pensée" for "thought" or "thinking of you", alluding to the sweet-faced pansies supposedly in contemplation. In addition to their charming faces, pansies are good to eat. The petals have a slightly sweet grassy flavour; the whole flower has a stronger wintergreen overtone.

Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island uses dark petals to make a black pansy syrup, beautiful over vanilla ice cream. Closer to home, order the organic mesclun (Provençal for "mixture") salad at Chef Bernard’s, or next door at BBK’s Pub, and you’ll get fresh pansies, nasturtiums and/or calendulas when they’re in season.

ROSES

There are more than 200 species of roses and 20,000 hybrids, but not all of them make good eating. Only fragrant roses have flavourful petals, and at that there is a hierarchy. Old varieties, such as Damask roses, provide the best culinary use. The flavours vary, but all are sweet with overtones ranging from apple to cinnamon to mint. Chef Bernard will mix rose petals with sugar and let it infuse for months before adding it to whipped cream. As tempting as it may be, never accept a rose from another garden unless you are certain it has been grown organically. And before trying any petals, remove the whitish base, which is bitter.

Good reading:

The Edible Flower Garden, by Rosalind Creasy

Edible Flowers: From Garden to Palate, by Cathy Wilkinson Barash