Flowers have long been a staple of international cuisines. Consider dried lavender blossoms in herbes de Provence or Iranian rice pudding scented with rose water. But recently, floral concoctions and aromatic blossoms have moved out of the kitchen and behind the bar, where they are deployed as much for their delicate flavors as their visual appeal.
— From How to Sip a Flower Garden at the New York Times, with thanks to Marietta for the link!
Thanks for the link. Me, I kind of like the sound of “spending gauzy afternoons threading tiny daisy necklaces while the Mamas and the Papas play softly on the stereo.” Cocktails entirely optional.
LOL…that didn’t sound so bad to me either! But I’d also take a lavender mojito, quite happily.
Yes the lavander mojito sounds really yum.
I’m a bartender and I did at one point try and convince the owners of my restaurant to put a rose martini on the menu. An Iranian cutomer of ours had given us some sadaf rose and orange blossom syrups. The Iranians make a delicious and refreshing non-alcoholic drink with this stuff and cucumber called “gol-ab” which means “flower water.” The rose martini was just the rose syrup, simple syrup, vodka, a little GM and pomegranate juice as I recall. It was pretty good but the owners didn’t think it would sell so it never made it to the menu.
Oh, too bad — that sounds so lovely!
Minnie, can’t you make it an off-the-menu-special? Ask if its possible because it sounds amazing.
I keep a bottle of Orange Blossom flower water in my fridge for cooking (bought at Faicco’s on Bleecker in NYC – best sausage in the US!), and love to take it out and sniff/daub once in a while.
Minnie, that sounds fantastic. My friends don’t get the edible flower thing. They actually thought it strange, and not in a good way, when I suggested trying to make candied violets for a salad, added rose water to baklava or busted out a box of Turkish Delight for them to try. I just shrugged since that just meant more for me. But I love floral teas and think a lavender mojito would be perfect on a hot summer night. lol I just thought of that scene from Gone With the Wind when Scarlett swigs some perfume to disguise the fact that she’d been drinking.
I drink lots of floral teas too, and esp. love rose in green tea.
That St.-Germain elderflower liqueur is really tasty in cocktails. I should try to find a place to get one.
I should try to come up with a cocktail using the bottle of rosewater I own (a lifetime supply)… maybe with Hendrick’s gin and sodawater.
What does the elderflower liqueur taste like?
Minnie: Like elderflower.
Just kidding, really… I only had it in a mixed cocktail once, not by itself, but it was delicious. I’ve noticed cocktails using it on several menus in the last year or so, so I can vouch for what the article says about it being a trendy bar item recently.
I looked up on wikipedia about floral and herbacious liqueurs and it was pretty interesting. My only concern is that things like elderflower are slightly toxic . . . I’m sure you would have to have an insane amount to bother, but it still makes me feel funny about it. On the other hand alcohol in itself is toxic. Toxic but delicious. Hmmm . . .
Toxic can be good sometimes.
And here are some others to play with (they’re mentioned in the article):
http://www.thelounginggourmet.com/
interesting. Have you tried any of those?
No, but would love to.