Have you noticed that tulips are everywhere at the moment? I’ve been about and about today and noticed all sorts of different varieties. They are about the only plants that have come up at my allotment too.
The first thought that has come to mind has been to wonder if they are an edible variety. Many varieties are edible. There’s a great list in this article by a fellow Great British Bake Off Alumni, Lucy Bellamy.
Leaves or bulbs?
Well the truth is they are both edible BUT you need to have the right variety and prepare them in the right way. Otherwise you could get serious food poisoning!
The bulbs were a staple for the Dutch during the second world war as there were so many and Office for Food Supply pronounced them fit for consumption and issued some leaflets to help with preparation. This excerpt from the book “The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland, 1944-1945” by Henrie A. van der Zee gives an interesting insight into the time:
“We were advised to peel them, cut them in half and remove the bitter little yellow core. Almost everybody tried it out and nobody liked them, but the Dutch saying ‘Hunger sweetens even raw beans’ was now more true than ever, and Dr. Mees discovered that the bulbs were ‘not too bad’ when boiled like potatoes… Rather better was tulip soup, the authorities had advised. ‘Take one litre of water, 1 onion, 4-6 tulip bulbs, some seasoning and salt… one teaspoon of oil and some curry-substitute. Cut up the onion and brown together with the oil and the curry. Add water and seasoning and bring to the boil, while grating the cleaned bulbs into the boiling liquid. Add salt to taste.’ It had virtually no nutritional value, but it filled the stomach. One had to be careful not to eat too many tulip bulbs as they could cause indigestion…”
Oh dear. Luckily the petals are more tasty. They are most definitely savoury versus sweet and the varieties I have tried vary from spring oniony in flavour to a crisp lettuce with radicchio undertones.
The petals lose their colour in cooking – even with light steaming. I made a wonderful stuffed tulip recipe from the Great British Chefs website and was sure to use a dark coloured flower.
So in this glorious sunny weather, I’d say the best way to experiment is to use the petals as a container for dips. They then make the prettiest canapes! Here’s a really easy goat’s cheese dip that you can use to dollop onto your petals.
[recipe title=”Tulip and Goat’s Cheese Canapes”]
You’ll need
- 100g soft goats cheese
- 4 heaped tbsp plain yoghurt
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
To make the dip simply mix all the ingredients together and season to your taste.
To prepare the tulip petals, just trim the bottom of each one with a pair of scissors or a sharp knife. I use a thai fruit carving knife as it’s thin and you can angle it exactly as you want to. If you don’t have one of those a paring knife would work just as well.
Once you have all your petals, pop them into a bowl of cold water til you are ready to serve and then dollop some of the goat’s cheese mixture on top and decorate as you wish on a platter.
[/recipe]
- More ideas for dips from Maddocks Farm Organics
- Tulips as ice cream bowls from a bridal magazine – I love this idea!
- Great little video on preparing tulips – fast forward to about 50 seconds in
Why not pin this idea for later or take a look at my Pinterest board on edible flowers
This is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time, but I do find it hard to pick my tulips as I prefer to see them blooming outside. Maybe if I had more I would be able to sacrifice a few. Nice idea to serve the dip in the petals.
I am lucky enough to live near a flower wholesaler and retained my card from when I had my flower shops. That is where I kill off my tulip cravings buying the beautiful feathery or parrot varieties as a Friday treat. I tend to grow the edible ones in the garden so we can eat them! Have never been brave enough to cook a bulb though!
What a unique idea! My tulips are finished for the season but the fact that you an eat them is so astonishing to me that I know I will remember this for next year. Your perfect and simple recipe is a great way to show off those pretty petals. Consider me amazed!
Wow! I am honoured to have amazeballed you my lovely x Do review the Guardian article by Lucy as that has the varities you can grow to eat. Maddocks also sell edible tulip bulbs. This isn’t a sponsored post but I LOVE them so plug them whenever I can
Wow I never knew you could eat tulips! I’ve never been keen on eating flowers but might have to re-think!
And you have an allotment too so a perfect place to grow them!
How amazing! What a fascinating snippet of history and love the recipe ideas too!
Thank you. It’s such a simple thing but so pretty. Worth growing the tulips indoors for nice little Xmas canapes!
How interesting to read! I’m intrigued. They look so pretty too.
Thank you
I’m loving those little canapes. I had not idea tulips are edible… thanks for sharing this, I did learn something new today! 🙂
Thank you. It was a pleasure
I have about 6 tulips currently growing in the garden. I used to look at them as pretty flowers, now though I am thinking about them as food.
Exactly! You see my problem with all the tulips this week?!
This is all so beautifully presented, and I never knew that you could eat tulips. I will be giving that a go at our next dinner party.
Just check with your doctor first! And the list of edible ones. Some people still have very bad reactions so I hear. I have never had any adverse effects but in your case I would def check!
I had no idea tulips were edible! They look so pretty as canapes!
Thank you. Not all varieties are edible do always check!
OK so I have learnt something today! Never knew that tulips were edible (although given what I read above, I think I will stick to the flowers/petals and not the bulbs!!These canapés are so clever and so pretty – thanks for the inspiration 🙂
A pleasure. And yes I’m not going near the bulbs either!
Reblogged this on Kitchen Counter Culture and commented:
Tulips! Edible! A wonderful piece in the beautiful blog The Botanical Kitchen. Includes an excerpt from a book about eating and hunger in wartime Holland, and lots of lovely culinary inspiration…
Thank you
Wow this is an amazing presentation!!
Thank you