Interested in making your own floral edible dish? Here are two recipes to try.
Floral salad
(serves four)
Ingredients:
• 80g cabbage leaves
• 160g kale
• Handful of baby spinach
• Handful of rocket
• 8 pansies
• 8 nasturtium (use leaves and flowers where available)
• 1 piece calendula flower (Remove individual petals, tear into individual leaves, and discard the hard centre. Use for its colour and health properties.)
• Borage flowers (Use as many as you can get for their lovely, oyster-like flavour.)
• A few rose petals
Pomelo
• 30ml yuzu juice mixed with 60ml verbena oil (dressing)
Method:
Mix dressing, and roughly cut cabbage and kale leaves (removing hard stalks).
Lightly massage the dressing into both, before mixing with rocket, baby spinach and the peeled pomelo.
Add flowers and petals, and assemble on a plate. Flowers should be added at the time of serving to keep them fresh.
Recipe courtesy Tomas Reger (@TomTheChef).
Hibiscus tea
Ingredients:
• 2 freshly picked red hibiscus flowers
• 2 glasses of water
• 1 lime sliced into two parts
Method:
Boil the water.
Add the petal part of the flower to your glass. Remove the stamen (central element), as well as the pistils (the green part holding the petals), stalk and leaves.
Pour boiling water over the petal, and allow to steep. The water will turn a deep purple/black. Stir.
Strain the liquid, and remove the wilted flower.
Add the freshly squeezed lime, and watch the tea transform back to the original bright red of the hibiscus flower.
Serve hot or chilled, and add sugar or spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, according to preference.
Recipe courtesy the Casa Luna Cooking School, Ubud, Bali (www.casalunabali.com).