Edible flowers

I was watching a TV show the other night where the praises of calendula as a medicinal plant were being sung and the presenter mentioned that these flowers were edible. I recall that a number of plants grown as ornamentals are said to be edible but, personally, I've only sampled the peppery leaves of nasturtiums and crystallized violets on expensive chocolates.
Has anybody here munched a calendula or, indeed, other flowers from their bedding display? If so, can you recommend the flavour of any of them?

 

Hi J by the H,
You can eat nasturtium flowers too, also chrysanths and rose petals. See here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof_edibleflowers.shtml

I have not munched them myself as I don't grow bedding plants, and as for the roses and I prefer to enjoy the display. Although I suppose if I was hungry enough... :D

 

I had chrysanthemum tea once....
Growing calendula and nasturtiums this year so I will try the flowers and let you know, when they have some!

 

I've worked with several chefs who use flowers. The usual ones are Nasturtium ( tastes peppery), Borage (Starflower) ( no discernible flavour but I do smoke so taste buds might not be acute) and Carnation (tastes of carnations, don't eat the base). They also use chive flowers. Most of the flowers are for presentation and they usually come back on the plates uneaten, all the best

 

Day lily buds are quite nice, but it seems a shame to eat them! :D

 

With the Pineapple Guava (Feijoa sellowiana) you can eat the fruit, flowers and leaves. David.

 

Thanks for these suggestions. I love carnations (perfume and appearance) so might have a nibble when I'm feeling peckish. Does the same hold true for Sweet Williams which must, I guess, be from the same family?
I once grew a Feijoa from seed, but, although it lived for quite a few years, it never once fruited. Wish I'd known about the leaves!

 

I really like Elder flowers. I have a nibble of most plants you can tell a lot by the taste, obviously its not a good idea to eat them in huge quantities if you don't know their effects.

 

On my recipe page
http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/leonora/recipes.html

I have recipes for
CALENDULA CUSTARD
ALMOND AND LAVENDER BISCUITS
LAVENDER AND HONEY ICE-CREAM
NASTURTIUM, ROCKET AND TOMATO SALAD

The last one is one I made up myself last year,
using the nasturtium, rocket and tomatoes from my garden.

 

The other one - my absolute favourite - is
STUFFED COURGETTE FLOWERS.

You can't buy courgette flowers in the UK, so I have to grow them! (You can buy them in Italy, it's a very popular dish in Italy.)

 

Hi there

I use calendula, nasturtium, viola, rose (rugosa is particularly tasty) and st john's wort petals in salads.

You can also do that clever thing where you make an ice bowl with petals embedded in it to serve your salad in...

 

heres a web link to an american site all about edible flowers, was just clearing out my 'favourites' and came across it! can't say i've tried many flowers,just the usual chives,viola etc.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

[ 12. June 2007, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: glenw ]

 

On Saturday I made Lavender and Almond biscuits for a party...
everyone really liked them!!
I noticed that in the local Health Food Store she has boxes of edible flowers for �£1.99 each....
but (smug grin of satisfaction!) I don't NEED them, because I have them already in my garden!!! :D

 

Uh..I got some more lavenders today, ones I ordered from Isle of Wight Lavender....
the thing is, the label says, HARMFUL IF EATEN!!!

but no-one's yet taken me to court for poisoning them....

 

Hello
my grandmother used to make a custard with fragrant rose petals. It was a very gentle refreshing flavor. She would also make chicken with rose petals (the combination of white wine and rose petals in her reduction was quite lovely)....you could also use rose water, but it was always fun to take the roses apart and make something with them in the kitchen after they started to look a little droopy in the vase.
Kay