“Eating Flowers” might have been a more apt title for this meeting, but that did not detract from a highly entertaining and informative talk from Jekka McVicar. Nearly fifty members representing both the BSP and BSF turned out on a typical January evening to be reminded of the warmer days of Summer with Jekka’s dialogue liberally interspersed with photographs from her Herb Farm. Jekka made her way through the various botanical families highlighting those that are used in the culinary art, giving examples from both the literature and her own experiences. Many of the uses of flowers in food preparation come from very old recipes (the Romans and Greeks were passionate devotees) and we seem to have lost the desire or the necessity to use all available parts of the plants around us. However, there is a great resurgence in the use of a wide variety of plants and plant material for food.

Jekka spent some time talking about the group of plants we call herbs, such as Rosemary, Thyme and Coriander. She explained that in all cases the flowers reflect the scent and flavour of the leaves that are commonly used in cooking, but are more discrete and delicate. The term vegetable came after the word herb and was used to distinguish between plants that were consumed for their nutritional value and those that were used as flavouring. The term “pot herb” reflects the age when everything was cooked in a boiling pot and herbs were amongst the ingredients added. Sage flowers taste like a gentle reflection of the leaves and we know that Sage Tea fights the ageing process and can be used in Alzheimers Disease. It also cuts down fat in the body and at one time the whole plant was used to preserve meat, by interlacing layers of fresh meat with sage plants. In a similar vein, Rosemary Tea made with the flowering tops of the plant is very good for the treatment of hangovers. Aniseed type plants, like Fennel, are good as digestive aids and have been shown to break down free cholesterol in the body. Sweet Cicely is so-called as it contains a proportionately high level of natural sugars in the flowers and these can be used in various sweet applications such as ice-creams, fools and mousses. Jekka’s horticultural experience with slightly more exotic herbs such as Myrtle and
Hyssop shows that they are half-hardy perennials and can be grown successfully against a south facing wall, providing you with the fresh herb during the Summer months.

Amongst the other tips worth trying is the use of Chive flowers in salads where the flavour is again more delicate. Lace your sugar for baking with Lavender flowers to impart the Lavender flavour to cakes and cookies (Pick the flowers before they are open, pack at the ratio of 1:1 with sugar in a glass jar in layers for four weeks, then sieve to remove the flowers). Sow Borage plants with your runner beans to attract bees which like the blue colour and black fly which prefer Borage to beans! If you have black fly-free Borage plants then the flowers are excellent in salads
where they add a light peppery taste and can be frozen in ice cubes to add a spectacular visual effect in a long drink. Finally, try eating Courgette flowers on their own or stuff them with meats and vegetables as they do in France.

Our speaker encouraged all of us to try eating or cooking with the flowers of our well known plants, but cautioned against any that you are not sure of or where other parts of the plant are known to be poisonous.
Jekka McVicar is an accomplished speaker with a repertoire of excellent anecdotal and literary information and supporting photographs. This was a first rate meeting, enjoyed by all and followed by a buffet which though lacking in floral content, nevertheless, rounded off the evening perfectly. For more information look at www.jekkasherbfarm.com

By Tony Dallimore

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