Edible petals are finding their way onto the plates of home cooks who see them as part of an organic, local way to eat
SUSAN SEMENAK
The Gazette
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Saturday, August 19, 2006
We eat broccoli, cauliflower and artichokes. So why not roses or carnations? Centuries ago, the ancient Romans were cooking with flowers. So were the Indians, Arabs and Chinese. Persian cooks have used rose petals on everything from yogurt dips to omelettes and stuffed quails.
Then we took flowers out of the kitchen, relegated lavender and rose to the cosmetics counter, limiting the blossoms that end up on our plates to a narrow range of vegetable florets. But there's something happening in the pansy patch and flowers are finding themselves back on the dinner table - and not just in the centrepiece.
Gardeners are planting easy-to-grow pansies, nasturtiums and calendula alongside their cucumbers and tomatoes. At Jean Talon and Atwater Markets, fruit and vegetable sellers feature edible flower petals.
...
When organizers of the Rooftop Garden Project in the Plateau held their annual plant giveaway this spring, the pots of edible flowers were the first to go.
So the five-year-old urban initiative aimed at promoting city gardening introduced edible flowers into its ready-to-grow kits for balcony vegetable gardening. And tangles of brightly coloured nasturtiums tumble from the garden beds in the project's six rooftop gardens, which supply produce for meals delivered by Santropol Roulant to housebound city dwellers.
"There's nothing better than eating something you grew with your own hand, especially if it also happens to be a thing of beauty," says Rotem Ayalon, the Rooftop Garden Project's policy advisor and part-time gardener.
"People are always excited to learn they can eat flowers."
ssemenak@thegazette.canwest.com
PHOTO CREDIT: MARCOS TOWNSEND, THE GAZETTE
Rotem Ayalon at the Rooftop Garden Project on Henri Julien St., which has added edible flowers to its mix.
Posted to: Health and Quality of Life Improvement | Media Coverage | Couverture médiatique
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Posté par rotem le Jeu, 31/08/2006 - 12:34pm.