Edible Flowers and Blossoms
Eating flowers and buds isn't very strange at all, they have long been known as inflorescent vegetables in our diets: inflorescents include artichokes, cauliflower and broccoli. But also many flowers of herbs and shrubs can be eaten.
Edible flowers are obviously very often used for decorative reasons for desserts and salads, or served as a candied violet and rose petals. However, beside their attractive appearance, flowers also have quite different qualities. They often contain the same essential oils as the leaves of a plant, only in a slightly lesser degree. Coupled with the mostly sweet nectar of the buds and flowers, a mixture of very interesting and delicate flavours results, so that flowers are also used for seasoning and flavoring - and sometimes, this sweet flavour can even be perfect to top off your cooking and baking.
