Until a few weeks ago, the idea of eating lilacs had never occurred to me. If you’d asked, I’m sure I would have stated, with unfounded authority, that the blossoms were inedible. Then, in late May, I saw a friend post a picture of her in-progress lilac infusion on Instagram. Another friend chronicled her theft of a lilac branch from a neighbor’s yard, for use in lilac sugar cookies. The novelist Amal El-Mohtar tweeted her preparation of a batch of lilac syrup: a bundle of just-picked blossoms, washed, then measured, and finally set in a bath of hot sugar water to infuse. Something was in the air, besides all the pollen and perfume.
— Read more in Lilac Syrup and the Underrated Art of Eating Flowers: The social-media star Alexis Nikole Nelson, a.k.a. BlackForager, is building an army of florivores at The New Yorker. Hat tip to Kevin!
Cool – I didn’t know lilac blossoms were edible. I stuck a few nasturtium seeds in the vegetable planters Mr. SP made for us so that I could have nasturtium flowers to put on our salads. I need to do more research about other edible flowers!
Nasturtiums are so pretty, too. Have not grown them in years and I should.
Nasturtium leaves are also great in salad — they have a peppery flavour not unlike cress. Never thought about eating or steeping lilacs, though.
I made a new friend a month or so ago, who suggested I taste the magnolia blossoms that were in profusion then. They are delicious! They have a gingery/vanilla flavor and are an unexpected- and yummy- addition to salads! I need to see if with the second flush in fall whether I can make a syrup with them.
I never thought to try magnolia blossoms. Unfortunately, we lost our magnolia tree this past winter.
Oh how cool!!
We just yesterday visited a “historic village” site (the location has an assortment of historic buildings of various types, but they not originally in one place as an actual town), and I bought several jars of jelly, most of which are flower flavors–rose, violet, hibiscus, white clover, and Queen Anne’s lace. I have had rose and violet before, but I did not know that anyone ate Queen Anne’s lace. I am curious to find out what all the different flavors are like.
Wow, I didn’t know people ate Queen Anne’s lace either, or white clover. Hope they are delicious!