FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
FLOWER, EDIBLE FLOWER
Excerpts from Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. A World of Vegetable Cookery. Simon and Schuster, New York.
The flowers of several kinds of plants are eatenb as vegetables. We might think of pumpkin or other squash blossoms, delectable when quickly fried, or Nasturtium blooms sprinkled over a summertime salad, But there are dozens of others, mostly of regional importance, and of decidedly various flavors.
The Indian-Butter-Tree, also known as the illipi or mahwa or mee (Bassia latifolia and B. longifolia, of the Sapote Family), whose fleshy white petals are eaten fresh or, more frequently, dried in tremendous quantities.
The widely cultivated tropical Red Silk-Cotton Tree (Bombax malabaricum, of the Kapok Family) has magnificent heavy flowers several inches across of an incredible vivid scarlet hue. The fleshy calyxes are avidly colelcted after the petals have fallen and are added to quick-cooked curries and such things. The petals, too, are edible.
Several of the glorious and myriad species of Coral Trees of Immortelles (genus Erythrina, of the Legume Family) have flowers have heavy, orange or scarlet petals that are eaten after being dipped in batter then crisp-fried in butter.
And then we have extraordinary Agati (Agati or Sesbania grandiflora, again of the Legume Family). This delightlful spreading tree bears, in its season, a grand profusion of hanging, proportionately huge fleshy flowers, white or reddish in color, the petals of which are delicious when quickly sauteed in butter, preferably with a seasoning of one or two of the tiniest new leaves. Long cultivated in India and Ceylon, where it is known by the euphonious name of katuru-murunga, it has been grown. The flavor is relatively bland.