Admittedly, I have never eaten or cooked with squash blossoms before. They’ve been haunting me at the farmer’s market because they know I have promised to try every food whenever possible (excluding bugs and Fear Factor type stuff). The resistance is because I share Shana’s point of view about edible flowers being stupid. But for $5 a box (20 flowers), I decided to plunge in today. I asked the guy selling it what squash blossoms taste like and uncharacteristically (of a green market vendor), he said, “squash blossoms.” Ok, thanks dude. I asked him how to prepare it and he said something like, just google it. Again, thanks. Despite my disappointment at him, I bought them and yes, googled it.
I found that the ones I bought were male blossoms, on a stem, not attached to a little zucchini, like the female squash blossoms. The stamen needs to be removed before you eat it. They can be eaten raw so I washed one and bit in. I don’t want to say they taste like nothing, but it’s pretty close. The tip of the flower is so thin and tender, you might miss it entirely, but as you go down the flower, it becomes lightly crisp like a tender lettuce.
So, I don’t get it. The only real appeal is the way it looks (which is not worth the price). What confuses me more is that the most prevalent recipe around for these is to stuff them, batter them, and then fry them. The look is then lost. There are too many other things that can easily look like nuggets and since this doesn’t add a particular flavor, what’s the point? Other popular recipes include adding them to omelets or quesadillas. Again, the whole flower thing is lost.
My two cents is to use it in a way that still shows off what you paid for, the look of a flower. They can be added to salads or use them as a centerpiece, like a bouquet, in the center of a crudite plate. These can be dipped into dressing or dip like any other veggie.
Stay tuned to see if I come up with any better uses for it.
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You sure are adventurous. I don’t know that I could eat it. I remember being in Taiwan once when there were a bunch of flowers put in my tea. I just couldn’t drink it–I found it too unsettling somehow. 🙂
Re: green market rep, awful! M
You could coat them in a light batter and tempura them. Thats quite nice.
They’d be too pretty for me to eat!
i appreciate their beauty for a minute, and then i have to admit that i stuff em and fry em up. they’re still beautiful, but in a different way. 🙂
My grandmother would stuff them and fry them and I thought they were delicious that way. Not all the flower-ness is lost though! They have a uniqueness that persists. She would take ricotta and mix in some black pepper and probably romano cheese, stuff them, roll them in flour then some egg and then fry. Delish! But I’m interested if you come up with other recipes!
Eat it Brooklyn, I have no doubt that something cheesy and fried is super delish, but is it more delish than other cheesy and fried things? BTW, I was thinking ricotta…
You can also stuff them with a cheese mixture, therefore showcasing the look but adding some flavor. I’ve seen this around the food blogs. I have also been tempted to buy them but haven’t seen any high quality ones that didn’t cost an arm and a leg quite yet!
Hillary, funny you say that, that’s just what I posted today: Bacon and Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms.
I would try something lite, something like a spring roll mixture of veggies and maybe a little meat you can stuff inside.
Stuff em with shredded Iberico cheese and parsely snips. Dip them in beer batter and fry them!! They rock!
Odd – I posted about this a couple of weeks ago (http://megbaxter.blogspot.com/2009/07/zucchini-blossoms.html) but still have yet to make the recipe I got from another blogger: http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2009/07/fried-stuffed-zucchini-blossoms-recipe.html
Help…. we live in a small Michigan town and I don’t know where to purchase squash blossoms. Is there a website that mails them?
Connie, I only saw canned doing a quick search, not fresh. Do you have a yard? Try planting?