Some flowers are as healthy or as delicious as they are beautiful, and roses are one example. You may already know that rose hips, or the fruits that appear after the blossoms are gone, have culinary uses, particularly to make rose hip tea. But rose petals themselves are edible, too, and can be added to both sweet and savoury dishes for a delicate floral fragrance and to build on the flavours already in the dish.
However, in Australia, you can’t just go to a florist, buy a few roses, and use their petals. While all varieties of roses are edible, there’s a chance that those used in bouquets and flower arrangements for events have been sprayed with chemicals at some point. That said, here are a few things to remember when looking for edible rose petals to use in your own kitchen.
Where to Buy Edible Rose Petals
There are online stores that specialise in edible flowers, so looking for one is as simple as typing in a phrase in your favourite search engine. But if you want to head out and look for yourself, grocery stores may have edible flowers, including roses, in the vegetable section. Failing that, you can visit a farmer’s market to look for edible roses, among other flowers, or shops that sell herbal remedies. Take note, though, that the petals you may find at the latter could be dried instead of fresh.
You can check out this shop to find authentic Persian rose petals.
Choosing Roses for Flavour
As mentioned earlier, there are many varieties of roses, including man-made hybrids. In general, roses that are most fragrant taste the best, although there are exceptions to the rule where the flower has almost no fragrance but tastes wonderful just the same.
Depending on the variety, the petals can be bitter, sour, or sweet. Some can taste more herbal than floral, or even have more minty or slightly spicy flavours. You may find that others taste similar to their relatives in the Rosacaea family, which includes almonds, apples, cherries, peaches, and plums to name a few.
If you’re in doubt, ask someone how a certain variety tastes, or pinpoint what flavour you’re looking for and see which variety would have that flavour.
Organically Grown Roses are Best
If you find a shop that sells edible flowers, you’ll want to check and make sure that the roses they have were grown organically. At the very least, no pesticides and insecticides were used in cultivating the plants, because those chemicals won’t just affect the taste, but they’ll affect how safe the rose petals are for consumption.
The truth is, wild roses are your best bet if you’re looking for edible petals, but there may be none growing near your home, or if there are, you may not have time every day to go out and choose blooms for use in the kitchen. The next best thing is to grow the roses yourself in the garden or backyard, if you have the space. Before you commit to such an undertaking, though, try buying edible rose petals first to see how you like them.
