CookingDiva

After washing the buds, make an incision around the tough base of the calyx below the bracts to free and remove it with the seed capsule attached. The calyxes are ready for immediate use, OR you could dehydrate them and store for future use. To assure best quality and preservation of the natural oils and plant properties, it should be dehydrated under 40 degrees C.

To serve fresh, chop the calyxes and add to fruit salads. As a side dish, sautee in butter, season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped cashew nuts or other nuts available.
Important: if you are using fresh hibiscus petals, make sure they have not been exposed to pesticides.

To prepare chutneys, marmalade and juice, first clean and chop or finely grind the calyxes prior to cooking. You could also steam them first, add the sugar, cook both together for 10 minutes, and then pass the mixture through a fine sieve. The result of this simple process is delicious added as a natural colorant and flavoring to cake frosting, gelatins, cake batters, and salad dressing among other options.

One of the wonderful properties about cooking with "saril" is that the calyxes posses 3.19% pectin, and in some countries it is recommended as a source of pectin for the fruit-preserving industry.

Medicinal Uses (from Morton, J. 1987.  Roselle.  p.  281–286. In: Fruits of warm climates.  Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL.)

In India, Africa and Mexico, all above-ground parts of the roselle plant are valued in native medicine. Infusions of the leaves or calyxes are regarded as diuretic, cholerectic, febrifugal and hypotensive, decreasing the viscosity of the blood and stimulating intestinal peristalsis. Pharmacognosists in Senegal recommend roselle extract for lowering blood pressure. In 1962, Sharaf confirmed the hypotensive activity of the calyxes and found them antispasmodic, anthelmintic and antibacterial as well…

In Guatemala, roselle "ade" is a favorite remedy for the aftereffects of drunkenness…In East Africa, the calyx infusion, called "Sudan tea," is taken to relieve coughs. Roselle juice, with salt, pepper, asafetida and molasses, is taken as a remedy for biliousness.

Now, a simple yet delicious formula to prepare "Panamanian Chicha de Saril"

Ingredients

• 2 cups Jamaica calyxes, cleaned
• 2 litres water
• fresh ginger root, cleaned, peeled and sliced  to taste (two or three medium size slices would be just perfect) optional. This ingredient is optional, the ginger will add a spicy hint to your drink!
• Sugar, or raspadura to your liking.

Directions

1. After washing the buds with water, make an incision around the tough base of the calyx below the bracts to free and remove it with the seed capsule attached.
2. Combine the calyxes and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Then, remove from stove, add the ginger, let rest covered for 15 minutes and drain off the liquid.
3. Serve hot or cold, or use the liquid to make gelatin.

Saril Tea Pops with Yogurt

The benefits of cooking with tea seem endless. In many cases, when you cook with tea, it retains many of the essential vitamins as well as the antioxidants. Tea is not only a refreshing and delicious beverage, but also very versatile and exotic ingredient that is hitting the kitchens of the adventurous cooks all over the world. How about cooking with tea today? Here we are sharing a simple, yet fantastic recipe to tickle your creativity. It could be prepared with fresh hibiscus petals, or red hibiscus tea.

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 4 tablespoons red hibiscus tea (or the petals only of 4 red hibiscus, washed)*
• 1 cup sugar or honey (or to taste)
• 3 cups original flavor yogurt (regular or low in fat)

Preparation

Pour boiling water over hibiscus tea, or hibiscus petals. Brew 5-10 minutes, or until it has reached a very intense red color. Remove tea bags, OR put the liquid through a very fine sieve to remove solids. Discard solids / used tea bag.

Combine tea with sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool completely and then add the yogurt and stir until the tea has been distributed evenly. You will get a pink beautiful yogurt. So sexy!

Pour mixture into ice pop molds and freeze until firm. To serve, press firmly on bottom and sides of molds to remove. If using paper cups, freeze mixture until almost firm and then insert Popsicle sticks into centers. Freeze until firm.

Recipe yields 6-8 Popsicles.

Enjoy your hibiscus and Happy Holidays!

Chef M

The best quality flowers for consumption are the young and fresh. Consumers have to be cautious to eat only flowers that were produced for that purpose and to avoid flowers from retail florists where they may have been treated with modern systemic pesticides and chemicals not intended for consumption; they have made the flowers highly toxic.

For some edible flowers, it is important to eat only the petals to avoid the bitter taste found in the rest of the flower. But, when it comes to roses, petals from all varieties are edible as well as the leaves which are used in some concoctions with curative properties that are prepared in Latin America.

The following excerpt has been extracted from "Rosita Arvigo's: Rainforest Remedies, One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize":

"Red Rose (Rosa Roja, in Spanish): Traditional Uses: As a "cooling" plant for fevers and as a binding or astringent for infantile or childhood diarrhea, 1 red rose flower and 9 leaves are steeped in one cup of boiling water for 15 minutes; this is strained before drinking. A stronger infusion using 3 red roses and a handful of leaves steeped for 15 minutes in 1 cup of hot water is consumed for adult diarrhea and uterine hemorrhage. All infusions are allowed to cool before drinking. To treat red, inflamed eyes in people of all ages, including newborn babies, 1 flower is steeped in 1 cup of boiling water; when cool, this is strained through a cloth and 3 drops are placed in the affected eye 3 times a day until cured."

Anyone wanting to buy roses or other flowers to eat should purchase them directly from an organic farm or from a farmer or gardener who has raised the flowers to use as food.

Roses and other flowers generally taste similar to their fragrance, or in the case of herb flowers they taste similar to the leaf of the plant. Most herbs that we use in the kitchen produce edible flowers, such as garlic, chives, dill, mint, sage and thyme. So, in your quest for the perfect tasting rose, do not forget to put your nose to work and check out the bouquet of each one! Remember that its aroma and the texture, in association with their eye appeal which makes them a "very sensual food".

"Flowers are the plant's sex organs, and they evoke the sex-drenched, bud-breaking free-for-all of spring and summer." An explanation of the aphrodisiac power of flowers as only Diane Ackerman can say it. A Natural History of Love.

We have to thank the organic farming movement for the return of edible flowers to the American cuisine. The chemicals & pesticide-free roses used to cook by most American chefs come from organic gardens in California who send them by air to specialty food suppliers around the country. Chefs pay around $15- $ 20 for fifty fresh thumbnail-sized blossoms.

Now, the fabulous recipes:

Recipe #1: CRYSTALLIZED ROSE PETALS (for garnishing salads, soups and desserts)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg white
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• handful of fresh, organic rose petals

Directions: Beat the egg white in water until foamy. Use a small pastry brush to paint each of the flower petals with the egg white mixture. Then, dip the petals into sugar. Allow petals to dry overnight on waxed paper.

Recipe #2: BOUTONS DE ROSE INFUSION

To prepare this infusion I use the "Fauchon's Boutons the Rose".  They are dried miniature red rose buds that come in a small 50g plastic jar directly from France. The 50g jar costs $17.50 here in Panama City. In a future post I will teach you how to dry your roses to assure the best taste and texture.

The procedure to prepare the infusion is very simple: just bring water to a boil and put a handful of dried rose buds in an infusion pot. Then, cover with the hot water and let it brew for 10 minutes, or more if wanted.

Recipe #3: ROSE-THYME VINEGAR

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh organic red rose petals (or pink, or a combination of both)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 l., distilled white salad vinegar

Directions: Place the rose petals and the thyme in a container with the vinegar and close hermetically for 1 month. Store in a dark place. Then, strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheese cloth and discard the rose petals. The thyme sprigs could be saved for future use as garnish.

If you bottle this beautiful and fragrant vinegar (with the help of a funnel), into decorative bottles, it would be the perfect holiday gift for your loved ones and foodie friends!

For best flavor: store the bottled rose vinegar for no more than 6 months in a dark, cool pantry.

Uses for this vinegar: in addition to using this vinegar to prepare your favorite vinaigrette, you can also use it to create a "rose homemade mayonnaise". Yes, I know..., it sounds deliciously beautiful Just the way we like it!

To prepare this "mayonesa con esencia de rosas" or, "rose mayonnaise", just use the "rose-thyme vinegar" when your favorite homemade mayonnaise calls for vinegar or lime juice.

Recipe #4: ROSE COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

• the juice of 4 lemons
• 1 l. water
• 2 teaspoons-rose water- (store purchased or home made)
• 3 tablespoons organic honey, or agave syrup
• a pinch of salt

Directions: combine all of the ingredients and stir until the honey and salt are dissolved. Serve COLD, garnished with a lemon wedge.

Tags: rose, edible flowers, cookingdiva, rosa, panama, sensual food

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