Cooking With Flowers: A Posy Of Flowers In The Kitchen

Karen S Burns-Booth is the author of popular foodie blog Lavender and Lovage. Her love of seasonal food and recipes stems from her early childhood which was"

The Medieval still room was a place where the mistress of the house would “brew” and mix her syrups, cordials, ales, medicines and many other herbal and floral concoctions, and she would be in tune with the passing seasons and nature.

Moving away from the art of “Floriography” (which is the art of sending messages by flowers with meanings attached the colour and type of flower that you gave or sent), flowers also made their way into most people’s kitchens;

As we approach the end of summer, now is an ideal time to use or gather your flowers in for the fragrant kitchen; fresh flowers and herbs can be added to salt and sugar, where they are preserved in all their glory, retaining their colour and fragrance for using through the drear winter months.

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If you are unsure what flowers are edible, there are numerous books on the market at present, as well as many seed companies, who sell edible flower seeds to sow all year around. My personal favourites are: marigolds, roses, violets, honeysuckle, borage, violas, primroses, lavender, nasturtium, courgette flowers, chive flowers, marjoram flowers, thyme flowers, lilac and jasmine.