At Pierrette Nardo's garden, vegetables and ornamentals coexist seamlessly. She grows flowers not just for their beauty, but to delight the palate. The world of edible flowers is vast and underappreciated: dahlias, amaranths, lavender, nigella, daisies, mallows, marigolds, and more. Organic by preference, these blooms enhance dishes like begonia risotto, nasturtium cream with mussels, or dahlia gratin.
Flowers offer more than aesthetics—they boast nutritional and medicinal benefits. Monarda tea aids digestion and eases colds; peony infusion soothes itching and skin irritations; queen of the meadows provides anti-inflammatory effects; and hollyhock tea supports intestinal transit.
Cooking with flowers goes beyond decoration. In this authoritative book, Pierrette details 75 edible flowers, including botanical facts, growing tips, culinary uses, nutritional profiles, flavor notes, and contraindications.
Discover 80 stunning yet simple recipes to awaken your senses: stuffed tulips, sunflower crackers, hot or cold chicken lucida, fish fillets with elderberry sauce, mock orange lemonade, sage apple gratin, and 'tuttiflora' delights like floral nasturtium-borage butter, petal ice cubes, summer flower tabbouleh, and tuttiflora salad. This book is destined to bloom in kitchens across France and beyond!
(Terre Vivante Editions - March 14, 2011)
Pierrette Nardo inherited her gardening passion from her mother and culinary flair from her father. A lifelong enthusiast of medicinal plants and roses, she maintains an experimental garden where edibles and ornamentals blend. Most flowers are destined for the kitchen or health and beauty remedies. Pierrette has authored several books, featured on France 3 Limousin's Autour de Midi, and contributes to La Gazette des Jardins and Plantes et Santé.
