Dare to Eat What We Admire ?

Hi!

It's me again.

Today's posting may be familiar to some of you, yet there remains many are not common with what I'm going to share.

First thing first, I'm showing you a picture.

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What do you think of that picture? Isn't that gorgeous?

That dish is actually an apricot salad with goat cheese on top. Moreover, there's one thing that moves my curiosity, which is the purplish-blue flower on the goat cheese.

It definitely enhances the appearance of the dish, but do you think they are there only for a garnish, or are they edible?

If you are wondering that I'm about to discuss about those flowers whether they are edible, you are 100% correct! Today's topic is about edible flowers. Some people in global often see colorful flowers served along with their meals, yet some others only assume that the flowers are only for decoration. I ask you, if you knew that those flowers are edible, would you eat them, try them at least, or not even at all ?

In fact, edible flowers have been used by old Romans, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian people long time ago. However, its beauty emphasizes towards recent era, which North American and European people are currently attracted to serve edible flowers along with meals. As majority has known, colors in fruits and vegetables indicate the presence of polyphenol or phenolic compounds, and so do colors in edible flowers. Polyphenol or phenolic compounds that are commonly found in edible flowers are anthocyanin, gallic acid, coumaric acid, quercetine, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, any many more. Those phenolic compounds act as antioxidant while being consumed by human. Antioxidants in a body will fight the oxidative substances that will cause deterioration of cells. Furthermore, if antioxidants are present in foods, they will minimize the damage of foods caused by oxidizing agents.

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Guys, you probably often hear some of edible flowers that are common to be added in foods. Those edible flowers are rose, jasmine, rosella, or butterfly-pea flower. We usually find those flowers in like beverages, where the flowers are extracted both their colors and flavors. Otherwise, they are not the only flowers are commonly added to foods, some others are in the picture above, e.g. red clover, dandelion, chamomile, sunflower, lavender, nasturtium, marigold, tulip, and pansy.

Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is white-petal flower with yellow center, it has sweet apple-like flavor, it usually blooms in late June. Marigold (Calendula officinalis), it is an annual flower with yellow/orange petals, it has tangery and peppery flavor, it blooms around June to August and likes to grow in cool weather. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), is purple or pink-petal flower and highly perfume, is has floral fragrance, and tastes very strong depending on the plant. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), it tastes bitter and can only be eaten when cooked properly, it likes to grow in cool weather. Tulips (Tulipa gesneriana), have a weak flavor of sweet and bitter, they come in various colors. Pansy (Viola tricolor), comes in three different colors for each flower, they are blue, orange, and purple; it has mild flavor and is best for salad's garnish. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) are varied in colors, they are great combined with vinaigrette, butter, and guacamole. Red clover (Trifolium pratense), has a pink petal color, it tastes hay, and can be sprinkled upon salads. And many many more of edible flowers you can choose what you desire to exist in your favorite meals.

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Picking edible flowers to thereafter be added to food, there are several guidelines you have to follow, so then you don't pick the wrong flowers. Pick the flowers in early day and use them at their peak to gain the best flavor. Never pick the unopened blossoms, because they tend to give bitter taste to your food. Do not use flowers that are sprayed by pesticides/insecticides/fungicides/grown in manure-fertilized soil. And do not collect flowers from florists, garden center, or nurseries, because the flowers are not meant to be consumed. Additionally, not all of us can directly consume edible flowers, because some of edible flowers may cause an allergic to specific persons. Thus, to avoid that allergic reaction, let us try to eat little by little in order to adapt our body from overreacting.
Nevertheless, not all of flowers are edible ! There are some of flowers that are poisonous or contains toxic substances. Those toxic flowers usually contain tripsin inhibitors, hemaglutinnin, oxalic acid, and/or cyanogenic glycosides that are hazardous for human consumption. 

That's all for today,

Now we know, don't we ?

I hope you consider it as useful information.

Thank you, and see you in other time !

References :

Bastin, Sandra. 1997. "Edible Flowers". Cooperative Extention Service. University of Kentucky

Franzen, Felipe de Lima et al. 2018. "Edible Flower Considerations as Ingredients in Food, Medicine, and Cosmetics". Journal of Analytical & Pharmaceutical Research, vol 7 (3) : 271 - 273.

Kucekova, Zdenka et al. 2013. "Edible Flowers - Antioxidant Activity and Impact on Cell Viability". Central European Journal of Biology, vol 8 (10) : 1023 - 1031.

Navarro-Gonzales, Inmaculada et al. 2015. "Nutritional Composition and Antioxidant Capacity in Edible Flowers : Characterisation of Phenolic Compounds by HPLC-DAD-EDI/MS". International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol 16 : 805 - 822.

Newman, S.E. and A. Stoven O'Connor. 2013. "Edible Flowers". Gardening Series. Colorado State University Extansion.