Eating rose petals is a great way to use the decorative flowers for culinary purposes. In this article you will find out what you should consider when eating.
Above all, roses are an expression of love. But the flowers are not only a popular decoration: You can also use their petals in the kitchen.
However, you have to pay attention to a few pointers. There are now up to 250 different varieties and new varieties are constantly being added through breeding. Only a few of them are actually suitable for consumption.
Eating rose petals: You should pay attention to that
To eat rose petals, you should always use wild and cultivated roses. In addition, they must belong to the genus Rosa. Other types of roses, such as peonies, Christmas roses or hollyhocks are not suitable for consumption. They are mostly poisonous because, despite their name rose, they belong to other plant genera.
You should also avoid eating bouquets of roses or potted roses that you have bought, as they can be heavily contaminated with pesticides. Also read: “Blooming business”: the global trade in flowers.
You can, for example, eat the rose petals of the following varieties without hesitation:
Gallica
Centifolia
damescena
All three species are fragrant roses. That’s why they taste particularly intense.
How to use rose petals
If you want to eat rose petals, you can use them either fresh or dried:
The leaves themselves are particularly suitable as a topping for salads, vegetable pans, but also for sweet dishes such as desserts or cakes.
If you pour hot water over them and let them steep, you can make rose tea.
The petals are also suitable as an ingredient for cold drinks such as lemonades, cocktails or punch.
Chopped rose petals add an interesting flavor to butter, spreads, cream cheese, hummus or other dips.
You can also add the edible flowers to oils or vinegar and let this mixture steep for a few days. So you can easily make rose vinegar and rose cooking oil yourself.
You can also use the rose aroma in the kitchen in the form of rose water. Originally, this comes from the Arab world and is often used in the kitchen as a condiment. Other products that contain rose petals are, for example, rose coffee, rose petal salt, rose pepper or rose syrup.
Rose Petals: Buying and Harvesting Tips
You can buy many products with rose petals ready-made. However, you also have the option of buying dried rose petals and using them yourself. If you want to use fresh petals, you can grow your own wild roses and harvest the leaves. You can find more information about growing roses here: Wild roses: important varieties, care and cultivation.
When harvesting, you should then observe the following tips:
Harvest the buds just before use. So they don’t wither.
Always choose buds that have just opened.
The morning is the best time. Then the essential oils have not yet evaporated due to the sunlight.
Carefully twist the petals off the calyx to avoid breaking them.
Wash your buds carefully.
Keep the buds fresh in a bowl of water if you decide not to use them immediately.
If you want to dry them, gently pat them dry and spread them flat on a smooth surface.
