Cornflower

Bleuet

What it is

Its blue survives drying better than that of any other edible flower, which is why it is sold as loose dried florets for tea blends and plating rather than as a fresh cut flower. As an arable weed it went the other way entirely: herbicides and cleaned seed all but erased it from European cornfields within a generation.

In the kitchen

Add the florets after brewing rather than during — a long steep leaches the pigment and leaves grey petals in the cup. Keep them in a tin away from light: they hold colour for a year closed, weeks in a clear jar on a shelf.

Goes with

Honey Damask rose petals Earl Grey Lemon Cucumber White chocolate

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