Lavender - should it be in food?

[Cattermole]

Curious what people think...

Just had some Co Op Blackcurrant and Lemon ice cream.
DH thought it was lush.
The Junior Engineer thought it tasted like soap.

I checked the ingredients and it said "... with a hint of lavender".

Essential oil, soap, room fragrance, candles, linen spray, all of those things.
BUT.
Does it work in food, I ask you?

My French MIL does a beautiful roast chicken dish with lemons, olives and just the right amount of herby provençal lavender and it is lush.

I love the smell of lavender but in food it is vile.

There's a lavender farm near us and I've tried lavender shortbread, lavender lemonade and lavender jam. All tasted like I was chewing on a bar of soap.

Lavender is not food.

If anyone has any recipes and can post them I would be grateful! Lots of lavender here and have been bundling them up and putting them out free for passers by. Would be nice to use more of them once the bees have had their fill! All we do atm are bog-standard lavender bags!
I assume people are using the flowers for ice cream and leaves/stem for meats?

I do like it very much in shortbread.

One year, we toddled off to a lavender farm and I ended up making a (very alcoholic) lavender mead. DP hated it. I liked it a lot, although it was a bit of an acquired taste and I didn't find a single food it actually went with.

Had a lavender scone at a National Trust once. Might as well buttered some soap from the gift shop eugh

Good with duck. I also use it in biscuits - sweet and savoury - and meringues.

@jesuispoulet Make some lavender sugar - much better than having bits of flowers between your teeth!

Thanks Katy (and yes I did google to check it was as easy as it says on the tin ) will try a small tub of that - do you leave it to "infuse"?

If anyone else is interested I found a few recipes here www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-how-to-cook-with-lavender-plus-10-recipes-that-use-culinary-lavender#4-ways-to-dry-lavender

Not the flowers, but you can use the stems in the same way you would rosemary. The flowers are too soapy for my taste.

Lavender biscuits. Delicious.

I've had cake and biscuits with 'a hint of lavender' and they are both nice but other than that I'm not sure

Lavender and fennel salmon is my signature dish. Delicious! Also love those heart shaped shortbreads from Waitrose. 😃

Rachel Khoo has a lovely lavender and honey roast chicken dish - really lovely

I add a small amount to home made biscuits and lavender milk is lovely. You only need a little bit though otherwise it can be overpowering.

It does not work in beer- tried one at a beer festival, and it ended up watering the plants in the garden outside.

There used to be a restaurant in London that had Lavender in all the food. ☺️

I’ve had a look this morning in my copy of the Flavour Thesaurus, which is really good for unusual combinations. Lavender is only mentioned three times and never in its own right. In comparison rose has its own section and at least twelve ideas for combinations. I think that gives you a sense of how difficult it can be to use lavender successfully. Some of the savoury suggestions upthread sound truly awful!

Yes! Love lavender cake

I'm a fan in biscuits, cake, ice cream. Haven't seen lavender chocolate for years, but I used to like that. Haven't had it as a savoury sauce, and don't eat fish, but I might look for a chicken recipe.

The bees are loving my lavender at the moment- the bushes are alive with them.

Yes, it looks pretty too.

Breathmiller

I like lavender from the garden in gin”

Thanks, that’s tonight’s treat sorted 😃

A flavour thesaurus sounds the business!

@Augustseemsbetter

A flavour thesaurus sounds the business!

It’s really good. Highly recommended

The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook www.amazon.co.uk/dp/160819874X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ET8lFbNAXZA26?tag=mumsnetforu03-21