Not only restaurants are increasingly scattering edible flowers on appetizers and main courses or desserts. Some of Britain's largest supermarket chains now also sell fresh flowers, to add color to a salad, or for cocktails with an exotic touch.
The trend to eat flowers is one of the latest culinary fads that respond to the marketing power of social media. Just like 'botanical dining', featuring vegetables as a bouquet, this newest trend shows the increasing influence of sharing-sites like Instagram on culinary trends, especially among the millennial generation.
Popular edible flowers sold in the supermarket include marigolds, violets, rose petals and carnations. Sainsbury's sells a mozzarella salad with different flowers, and Tesco and Waitrose sell salads with violets. In the hospitality industry, the trend continues with, for example, tulip leaves as edible spoons for canapés or ice cream.
The Daily Mail writes that the trend might not be so new. The British have been eating flowers for centuries, for example in botanical gin and other herbal drinks, but also traditionally in salads, such as the nasturtium. Besides, there are concerned voices about the risk of poisoning if inexperienced consumers are going to pick flowers themselves, with a potentially deadly ending.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland