Cooking with flowers

As lovers of nature and beauty, we couldn't help but dedicate a blog to flowers, colorful and very fragrant, they are ideal for giving a touch of color to the home but not only that, they can enrich our recipes, decorate our dishes and add flavor and fantasy.

Thanks to the desire to combine innovation and tradition, and to create inviting and at the same time healthy dishes, flowers are increasingly rediscovered today.

To tell the truth, the use of flowers in the kitchen dates back thousands of years, from Chinese to Indian civilization, from Greek to Roman. Many cultures have become passionate and have used these wonders of nature in their traditional recipes.

Today we not only find them in the kitchens of star chefs but they are now accessible to all consumers: they are often used in salads, as a garnish for dishes or desserts, to embellish cocktails, in infusions, obviously the creative use has no limits.

Edible flowers contain substances useful for our health but the risks are never zero: scientific research has allowed us to approach flowers with greater safety, various aspects have been evaluated: from the mineral component, the potential microbiological contamination, the presence of compounds beneficial organic substances such as polyphenols, with antioxidant function, and potential cytotoxic activities.

Therefore before using flowers it is necessary to be careful, some flowers could be poisonous or cause allergies; therefore, we recommend that you always buy them from highly specialized retailers and we invite you to consult sector books which could help you, even with photographic material, to recognize them before use and give you the right nutritional information.

But what are the most used edible flowers? Here is a list that we hope will help you:

yarrow, allium, dill, angelica, orange, basil, borage, marigold, chamomile, honeysuckle, carrot, centaury, chervil, chicory, coriander, chrysanthemum, dandelion, dahlia, chives, cornflower, fennel, carnation, jasmine, geranium , sunflower, gladiolus, hibiscus, impatiens, aniseed isoppo, iris, lavender, lilac, magnolia, mallow, daisy, mint, myrtle, monarda, nasturtium, poppy, passionflower, peach, primrose, radish, black locust, rose, rosemary, rocket, sage, elderberry, mustard, linden, clover, tulip, lemon verbena, pansy, courgette flowers.

Now all you have to do is start decorating your dishes!!!