from the sun's rays
to the soil's hug
flowers carry the love
of a plant's happiness
Each year, my garden is full of flowers. From the rosemary plants bolting to the African wild sage attracting local carpenter bees, to the September bush opening its purple wings. Many flowers share their happiness with me if I did everything right, and if there was enough water.
For years, I never knew what to do with the flowers. I knew in the back of my mind you can use especially rosemary flowers in salads, and I tried using many of my other flowers, such as the yellow mustard and wild rocket flowers in salads, but your timing needs to be good, there needs to be a lot, and you will not always see these beautiful flowers in a salad. Plus, my salad-making endeavours always yield very strong-tasting dishes, which will overpower the delicate flower's taste.
When I saw a video on Chef Sam Black's account where he makes Thyme flower salt, I knew I just had to try it with the many flowers from my garden. Currently, the winter savory (Satureja Montana), rosemary, and African wild sage (Salvia Africana), are all flowering in my garden, giving me an abundance of flowers.
I thus could not wait to transform these herb flowers into flavoured salts. At the end of this post, I will show you one way in which I use these flavoured salts. But for now, please join me as I show you how I make this delicious and delicate herbal salt that you can use to firstly preserve their flavour but also to unlock new culinary delights!
Choosing Flowers: Edible Herbs
It would have been easy to make a blanket statement in that you can eat all the edible herbs' flowers. That would have been so easy, but it is not the case. Not every flower is edible, and that is where your research should begin. Find out if your favourite herb's flowers are edible, but also find out if it nice to eat! Some flowers are not nice to eat, but some taste radically different from the herb. I am thinking about my garlic chive blossoms tasting like and smelling like honey; not a hint of garlic!
Your research thus lies with identifying edible flowers and then identifying which of these tastes nice and which you want to turn into an herbal salt. The first one that came to my mind was rosemary blossoms which I will then use on some roasted potatoes. But the most prolific flower in my garden is that of the African wild sage. I caught it just before most of the flowers fell from the plant.
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| From left: winter savoury; African wild sage; rosemary |
Leaving some for the bees: Abundance
I can already hear from some that picking flowers is not always the best practice. Flowers attract pollinators which hangs on a balance of nature and her other creatures. By picking too many flowers, we will then get rid of the pollinating insects, which might disrupt this balance. And that is why you should only choose flowers that appear to be in abundance, or where you can see there are a lot of flowers. My rosemary bushes always produce so many flowers. But the African wild sage is a prolific reproducer. The seeds spread so easily and I have so many plants, and each year I harvest the seed heads to encourage new growth.
| From left: rosemary; African wild sage |
As you can see, I could not even over harvest, because there are so many flowers. I obviously did not pick too many flowers from the plants, I made sure to leave them for the bees and other insects.
Picking Flowers
The picking of the flowers is my favourite part. The smell of fresh herbs hangs in the air, the odour sticks to my fingers, and the whole kitchen smells of herbs for days on end as it dries out. The sight of flowers on the table is also so beautiful. It really changes one's mood when these beautiful plants and flowers decorate the kitchen, even if only for a moment before they are crushed.
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| From left: African wild sage; winter savory, rosemary |
The recipe or method from Chef Black is very simple. It is merely equal weight of the flower to salt. 10 grams of salt 10 grams of flowers, and then you merely crush them in a mortar and pestle. I changed the recipe a bit, adding way more salt. I think more salt is better. What I will do differently in the future is to take more care in removing some of the stalks, as the mortar and pestle did not break it into smaller pieces as I hoped for.
But in the end, you are left with the most amazing and intensely flavoured salt. Something that will change how you will make food for sure! Now, you can preserve the delicate flavours of these flowers, adding them to roasted vegetables, or even just on a piece of toast and butter!
| Winter Savory Flower Salt |
| Rosemary Flower Salt |
| African Wild Sage Flower Salt |
Drying The Wet Salt
To dry the salt, you simply have to place it on a cloth and wait for it to dry. This will happen very quickly, as the salt draws out moisture. The flavour will thus be preserved in the salt. In the future, I might try and "smoke" some of these herbal salts, especially while it is still wet. A smokey sage salt sounds like something I want to add to some toast...
While the herbal salts dry in your kitchen, the kitchen will be filled with the most intense smell for days on end. Every morning when I open the windows, the whole kitchen is flooded with the smell of the drying herbs. It sets you up for the day in a totally different way, one that soothes the soul.
Using the Salt
You can use the salt like you would use any other finishing salt. I would not use it as normal salt, as the herbs can overpower the dish, and you might not be rewarded with the delicate taste and smell of the flower essence. Recently, I made some pizza, and I always make a "herb and oil" pizza. Usually, I add wet herbs soaked in oil to the base. But because I have these salts available, I merely added oil to the base, before I baked it. As the base came from the over, I added some of these herbal salts to the hot oil, and wow, this was amazing! The delicate flower smell, the delicate taste, everything was just perfect.
The essence of the flower came through as I tasted it with the salt. Tonight, I might add some of the rosemary salt to roasted potatoes. But you can use your imagination to guide you where and when to use it.
Postscriptum, or Saving it for a better day
The salt preserves the delicate flavour and essence. How long this will last, I am not sure. Over time, the flavour and taste might change. This is inevitable as the delicate smells will change along with the way the salt interacts with the herbs. But for now, I will liberally apply it to even a slice of toast! It is that good.
I really hope that you will try this way to preserve herbal flowers! Just do your own research and be careful with what you harvest, for your own safety but also for nature's perseverance!
For now, enjoy your herbalism journey, and keep safe.
All of the writings are my own, albeit inspired by the Instagram post hyperlinked above of Chef Sam Black. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300. Thank you for 