In the flower garden, marigolds, pansies, and
borage are in flower, and the first of the scented roses are in bud. These will make a colourful addition to our
sallats [salads] and be used to decorate our food. When we have enough in bloom we will
crystallise the petals with egg white and fine sugar, then leave them somewhere
warm to dry. It is one of the ways to
preserve the flowers for winter days when there are none in the garden.
The scented herbs and petals are also put into our hand wash to clean and scent our hands. A large bunch of rosemary, sage or lavender can also be steeped in boiling water to make a good liquid for cleaning all wooden and working surfaces.
A Grand Sallat
Ingredients:
A small bunch of each of the following:
- Rocket
- Spinach
- Sorrel
- Chard
- Salad burnet
- Wild garlic leaves
- Young lettuce leaves
- Radishes
- Mint
- Chives
¼ of a cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, grated
Handful of raisins
Handful of currants
Small dish of capers
Handful of flaked almonds
4tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
Edible flowers to decorate - marigolds, borage, chive flowers, rose petals, heartsease pansy, and rosemary flowers.
Method:
1. Wash and dry the herbs and break up roughly
2. Mix the herbs with the shredded cabbage
3. Starting in the centre of a large serving plate make a mound of grated carrot
4. Surround this with concentric circles of chopped herbs, radish, dried fruit and capers
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar and seasoning together to form a dressing
6. Just before serving, sprinkle the sallat with a little sugar
7. Serve the sallat dressing in a small dish
Check back soon for our next Tudor Recipe: A Tart of Custard