Recipes with flowers: 5 ideas for cooking

Italian cuisine is the most distinguished representative of the Mediterranean diet, inspiration of many culinary guidelines around the world, whose philosophy is simplicity and genuineness.

Although flowing from north to south, some differences are evident, especially in the southern cuisine that would have much to do between nutritionists and health-conscious, it can be said that, however, eating Italian is healthy and nutritious

A non-rigid cooking style in which the variations are always welcome, especially if they are oriented towards the exaltation of tastes and aromas.
It is not by chance that most of the recipes, whether sweet or savory, are influenced by local characteristics and claims of origin that, from region to region, even having the same basic ingredients, differ for that particular aroma or touch capable of mutating and not little sensation on the palate.
And ‘the case that is evident in the use of spices that lately, for fashion or evolution of nutritional doctrine, broadens the green concept in the use of certain flowers, as exceptions to interpretations of classic recipes, winking at the countrymen who in Mediterranean basin have made extensive use since ancient times.

1-As in the case of Tzatziki, which has now also become part of many local culinary variations, as an excellent condiment for salads, even in a vegan version, which includes the use of dill flowers, with a yellowish green color and strong aroma of anise.
The sauce obtained can also be used on bruschetta or grilled vegetables and is prepared by grating a cucumber taking care to drain excess water.
Following a minced garlic and mint with a knife, mixing everything with sheep’s yogurt, as in the original version or soy in the vegan, correcting salt and adding oil to the wire until well emulsified, with the possible addition of a few drops of white vinegar.
The habit over time to suppress the edible part of certain plants, even its inflorescences, dates back to the Greek and Latin ancestors who, in periods free from pollution and chemical alteration, provided to enrich the taste of the dishes with the addition of details only from the olfactory and aromatic effect, true precursors of the culture of spice that would have grown with agri-food science.

2-The use of flowers in culinary preparations is not new, some real protagonists of preparations that range between vulgar and refined cultures, such as those of pumpkin, other simple extras whose role is to enhance the recipe, such as those of dandelion , still others devoted to the ornamentation, respecting the old adage that says: you eat first with your eyes or your mouth!
In the recipe of risotto with yellow dandelion flowers, the petals of about thirty flowers are dried in a sautéed onion, to give to the rice during the subsequent blasting, a pleasantly bitterish aftertaste.
It fades with half a glass of prosecco, adding a liter of broth, preferably chicken, a little at a time and when cooked after a good twenty minutes, remove from the heat and stirring constantly add a grated parmesan to mix it all together. with a few pieces of butter.
A small clarification is a must because not all flowers are edible, but only those defined as food and biological, ie grown without the use of chemicals such as pesticides, which could be absorbed by the stem and consequently prone to health .

3-A recipe that demonstrates the excellent plant capacity to make up for the tastes you are used to is quinoa burger with marigold flowers.
Quinoa is a herbaceous plant of the beet family, despite being mistakenly assimilated to cereals, whose seed has considerable nutritional properties in protein terms.
The calendula flowers have a slightly spicy taste, useful for reducing the level of cholesterol, naturally soothing and purifying.
The preparation is done by toasting one etto of quinoa, subsequently blanched in half a liter of water and left to make up, as for the cous cous.
A cold compound is added to an egg to mix the dough, two tablespoons of marigold flowers, pepper, a tablespoon of turmeric, a dozen small pieces of olive oil, half a fresh chilli pepper deprived of salt and oil.
The preparation should be placed in the fridge for at least three hours, allowing it to compact and being able to form the hamburger with a dough cup, which will cook two minutes per side.

4-Carefully observing it is not unlikely that many commonly used recipes will use phytoelements to overpower the taste, for example saffron and orange blossom.
The one precious element of oriental matrix, used more in the preparation of first courses, the other much more local whose extract appears olfactory component in different elaborations of pastry, compartment in which the rose and wisteria cake can be inserted.
For this preparation, a hint of rose and wisteria flowers are blended, fresh or frozen, with two dl of soy milk and a half kilo of double-zero flour, a pinch of salt, a sachet of baking powder and a bar of sugar.
Add a pan with soy butter and powdered sugar to prevent the mixture from adhering to it and, after having preheated the oven to 180° C, the mixture should cook for at least thirty minutes.
The edible part, that is to say exploitable in the alimentary sense, of a plant, unless it is naturally edible species, is limited only to the inflorescences, then the petals without any consideration for stems and pistils.

5-The roundup of end of a meal based on flowers ends with the van Gogh cocktails, for the preparation of which require 15 ml of liquor elderberry,
30 ml peach liqueur, to fill sparkling brut with the addition of a pair
of sprinkles of essence of violets, garnished with seasonally edible and slightly spicy edible flowers with herbaceous and balsamic notes.
Although botanical genetics has succeeded in reproducing grafted specimens, with characteristics of flavor that are completely analogous to the fruits that the plant generates naturally, the use of flowers should be aimed at spontaneous inflorescences.