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Visitors to this year's show can pop down to a nearby restaurant and try a flower-based lunch menu. Is it just a novelty – or something worth taking seriously?
As Chelsea flower show gets under way it's not just the gardeners who are putting flowers on the table. Chefs are too. Down the road from the Royal Horticultural extravaganza, Tom Aikens restaurant has a lunch menu bursting with edible blooms. Loch Duart Salmon with viola, violet flowers or poached chicken with marigolds are followed by rose-poached strawberries and washed down with elderflower syrup.
This isn't just a PR stunt, says Aikens who has been cooking with flowers for several years: "Flowers complement dishes in the same way that herbs and spices do," he says. "In savoury dishes, flowers from herbs like rosemary and thyme, which have a short season, add a unique and distinct flavour while, in desserts, roses, lavender and hibiscus all add a subtle, sweet and slightly scented flavour – which works well."
One of the most high-profile chefs to use flowers is René Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen. His dishes include beetroot with thyme flowers, nasturtium flowers with snails, and broad beans with cucumber and mustard flowers. And anyone who read his book, Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, may find themselves scouring the landscape for delicacies such as sea buckthorn.
Indeed, eating flowers dates back thousands of years. The ancient Greeks put violet petals in their wine, the Romans were partial to cooking with rose – as were the Ottomans, who used their flowers to flavour Turkish delight. Dandelions are thought to be one of the "bitter herbs" mentioned in the Old Testament and, fast forwarding through the centuries, the Victorians added violets, primroses and borage to their salads.
Medieval monks used a flower that Dev Biswal, head chef at the Ambrette in Margate, is currently reviving: the almost forgotten Alexander (also known as horse parsley). Found growing on the sites of former monasteries and along coastal cliff paths, the Alexander flower is greeny yellow with black fruits and has a flavour that falls between celery and parsley (it also makes a decent tipple). "I was drawn to this plant the moment I first encountered it," says Biswal who uses it to spice up his southern Indian-style beef stew. "It has qualities I have always admired – defiant and resilient as well as being crunchy and delicious."
Many cultures use flowers in traditional cooking – squash blossoms in Italian food; saffron flowers in Indian food – and not just for decoration. Spicy flowers such as chive blossoms can be rolled into pasta dough and pickled flower buds (such as nasturtium) used as an alternative to capers, while angelica adds a liquorice flavour to ice-creams and sorbets.
And, of course, a salad shot through with orange nasturtium flowers or stuffed squash flowers has visual impact as well as packing a tasty punch. Check out Great British Chefs for dishes such as duck breast with lavender, beetroot and sweet potatoes or courgette flowers with goat's cheese and violet jelly. If you're keen to experiment, Thomson and Morgan sells a variety of edible flowers online, as does Firstleaf.co.uk. or if you want to forage in the wild look out for these.
As a child, I remember annoying my father by munching my way through his nasturtium flowers, which were intended to add a splash of colour to the front garden rather than a distinct peppery flavour to a salad. But the novelty value of eating flowers was irresistible. My own tiny garden is covered in astroturf. I am not going to impress anyone with my green fingers but, if nothing else, serving dinner guests alexander flowers should give them something to talk about.