The Bottom Line
Recommended for those who are new to the idea of edible flowers. This book is a useful first step, and readers can go on to find out more about growing particular types of edible flowers.
Pros
- The author does a nice job giving the reader an idea of how certain edible flowers taste.
- Each type of flower profiled includes a photo, description, flavor profile, and recipe ideas.
- The book includes an at-a-glance list of common garden flowers that are NOT edible.
- The recipes are well-written, straightforward, and not intimidating.
Cons
- A bit physically awkward to read, due to its flipback book format.
Description
- Quick, general information about each type of edible flower.
- Information includes general taste descriptions, how to use each type of flower, and a description of the plant.
- The first half of the book is a directory of edible flowers; the second half includes recipes.
Guide Review - Review: Eat Your Roses by Denise Schreiber
Peppery nasturtium blossoms added to a salad, stuffed zucchini blossoms, and chive blossom vinegar are three uses for edible flowers that are becoming more common. But the world of edible flowers is generally a mystery to the average diner. Denise Schreiber's book, Eat Your Roses ... Pansies, Lavender and 49 Other Delicious Edible Flowers (St. Lynn's Press, 2011) aims to change that. Schreiber covers both common edible flowers (broccoli and cauliflower are flower buds, after all) and flowers that many of us wouldn't normally think of as "edible," such as lilac or yucca flowers.
The book is composed of two parts. The first part of the book is essentially a directory of edible flowers. It includes a full color photo of each plant, a description of the plant and how to grow it, an explanation of its general flavor notes, and suggestions for cooking with it. The second part of the book is a cookbook featuring edible flowers. The recipes include appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, drinks, butters, syrups, and sugars.
While this is not a book about how to grow edible flowers, it is useful for those gardeners and cooks who are interested in using more edible flowers. It will provide ideas for which flowers you might want to grow for cooking. It's very easy, as a gardener, to see blooms in only one way: as the prelude to the real harvest. This book helps us appreciate flowers as an edible all their own, and, as a result, we get more out of our garden.
