Culinary Lavender

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Culinary Lavender

 

Lavender is an incredibly versatile herb for cooking. In today's

upscale restaurants, fresh edible flowers are making a comeback as

enhancements to both the flavor and appearance of food.

 

As a member of the same family as many of our most popular herbs, it

is not surprising that lavender is edible and that its use in food

preparation is also returning. Flowers and leaves can be used fresh,

and both buds and stems can be used dried. Lavender is a member of

the mint family and is close to rosemary, sage, and thyme. It is best

used with fennel, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, and savory.

 

English Lavender (l. angustifolia) has the sweetest fragrance of all

the lavenders and is the one most commonly used in cooking. The uses

of lavender are limited only by your imagination. Lavender has a

sweet, floral flavor, with lemon and citrus notes. The potency of the

lavender flowers increases with drying. In cooking, use 1/3 the

quantity of dried flowers to fresh. The key to cooking with lavender

is to experiment; start out with a small amount of flowers, and add

more as you go.

 

NOTE: Adding too much lavender to your recipe can be like eating

perfume and will make your dish bitter. Because of the strong flavour

of lavender, the secret is that a little goes a long way.

 

The lavender flowers add a beautiful color to salads. Lavender can

also be substituted for rosemary in many bread recipes. The flowers

can be put in sugar and sealed tightly for a couple of weeks then the

sugar can be substituted for ordinary sugar for a cake, buns or

custards. Grind the lavender in a herb or coffee grinder or mash it

with mortar and pestle.

 

The spikes and leaves of lavender can be used in most dishes in place

of rosemary in most recipes. Use the spikes or stems for making fruit

or shrimp kabobs. Just place your favorite fruit on the stems and

grill.

 

Flowers look beautiful and taste good too in a glass of champagne,

with chocolate cake, or as a garnish for sorbets or ice creams.

Lavender lends itself to savory dishes also, from hearty stews to

wine-reduced sauces. Diminutive blooms add a mysterious scent to

custards, flans or sorbets. Dried lavender blossoms used in perfumes

and potpourris.

 

NOTE: Do not eat flowers from florists, nurseries or garden centers.

In many cases these flowers have been treated with pesticides not

labeled for food crops.

 

http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/Lavender.htm