Some daisies in your soup, sir? Yes, please
ANYONE for cheese-stuffed tulips, salad with rose petals or violet creme brulee? If it sounds odd or just plain wrong to eat flowers rather than just ogling them from a distance, think again. The Chelsea Flower Show marks the beginning of a period in which the city’s best chefs turn to flowers to spruce up seasonal menus. Of course, it’s a gimmick, but there’s really no reason why we shouldn’t eat flowers. They add a delicate sweetness to dishes and always look lovely.
How does it all taste? Pretty good. Last week I went along to Launceston Place in Kensington and tried some of chef Tristan Welch’s flower dishes.
Ricotta and spinach ravioli with wild garlic and its flowers was perfectly harmonious – the garlic flower was delicate and slightly sweet. Then there were assertively fresh-tasting broad bean flowers that went a treat with champagne-poached salmon. The chive flowers that came with a melting braised beef and broth-marinated tomatoes added a subtle oniony sweetness. “Chive bouquets are beautiful,” enthuses Walsh. “The flowers are so versatile, but work especially well with meat because they’re quite pungent.
“The great thing about flowers is that they taste like they smell,” he enthuses Walsh, who is extending his menu beyond Flower Show week and will be cooking with them (mostly from vegetables) throughout the summer. “In the case of vegetable flowers, the aroma of the veggie goes into the taste of the flower to very unique, summery effect.”
PROVENCAL FIELD
Veggie petals – such as pea, broad bean and garlic – work especially well in gourmet menus as they carry strong, recognisable but delicate flavours. Sometimes they even intensify the taste of their related vegetable – cucumber flower, for example, is “stunning served with mackerel”. Welch is also partial to nasturtium in salads; “because it tastes a bit like watercress” while tulips go well with poached scallop, and home-made elderflower cordial is heavenly with strawberries and champagne, as well as – of all things – foie gras. Finally, the lavender panacotta was unbelievably refreshing, like eating the smell of a Provencal field in summer, in cool cream form.
Professional foragers provide edible flowers to restaurants but with the likes of broad bean, garlic and chive, you can find them among your own crop or – in the case of garlic flowers – almost anywhere in the countryside. If you don’t grow your own vegetable garden or marigold patch, then here are some of the best places to tuck in to the tastiest of Britain’s flora.
LIGHT BAR
at St Martin’s Lane Hotel, 45 St. Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4HX Flowers aren’t just to be eaten – they work awfully well in liquid treats too. There’s no better place to enjoy flower-inspired cocktails than the uber-boutique St Martin’s Lane Hotel. Try the Scottish Blossom: pear puree; hibiscus and fennel syrup falernum (sweet spiced syrup); Glenfiddich 12yrs and fresh lemon juice, topped with soda. Or there’s the Flower Power Mojo Muddle: Daisy flowers; white sugar; lemon juice; white rum.
Chelsea Blush Muddle contains basil leaves; half a mandarin; Hangar One Mandarin Blossom vodka; Camomile tea syrup and comes garnished with a lily flower. £13.50 each
LE CERCLE
1 Wilbraham Place, SW1X 9AE From the same chic and snappy family as Club and Cellar Gascon, Le Cercle does a winning and perfectly balanced Gallic flower menu in honour of Chelsea. Expect spring salad and rose petal vinaigrette; violet-scented coley with piquillo; roast guinea fowl with verbena; and violet creme brulee and apricot.
£17 for three courses; 19-23 May
CINNAMON CLUB
30 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU
This bastion of fine Indian dining is going all-out with an aromatic, extravagant but well balanced floral feast.
Cleanse the palate first with a hibiscus and rose petal bellini followed by essence of tomato with chicory and rocket flower.
Next comes grilled asparagus with kadhai spices; yoghurt and chive flower kebab; crisp zucchini flower with tamarind vegetables and elderflower and anise sorbet.
To top it all off is a rose petal and milk carom seed crumble with sweet cicely jelly.
£60 per person; throughout May
ROUSSILLON
16 St Barnabas Street, SW1W 8PE
One of the top French restaurants in London, this Pimlico jewel has a much-loved menu that pays homage to the nearby Chelsea Flower Show that showcases executive chef Alexis Gauthier’s love of all things soil-born. The full flower menu is yet to be released, but it will feature plenty of violets and roses. Other treats include open ravioli of purple and green watercress; chrysanthemum souffle and wildflower biscuits.
£65 per person; 19-23 May
ALAIN DUCASSE
at The Dorchester, 53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA
This titan of French haute-cuisine is launching a season of floral macaroons in honour of Chelsea. Pastry chef Angelo Ercolano has opted for a beautifully colourful and exotic range that includes rose and raspberry; orange blossom; lavender; jasmine and coco and verbena and lime.
The macaroons are served as part of a new lunch menu. Two courses including wine and tea/coffee start at £39.50