Cornflower
Centaurea cyanus · Edible flower
Top 10 pairings
The cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), also called bachelor's button, is a slender annual of the daisy family famous for its intense, almost electric blue flower heads. Once a common weed of European grain fields, it is now grown as a garden ornamental and as an edible flower whose mild, faintly clove-sweet petals are scattered over salads and plates and dried into colourful tea and seasoning blends.
Picking a good onedrag
Just opened, blue at full pitchFaded, floppy, rusting at the fringe
Punnet freshEveryday bestPull the fringed ray florets off the scaly green base and scatter them raw over salad, soft cheese or a finished plate. Base, stem and leaf stay behind.
Where it came fromA grower who sells it to be eaten, unsprayed
The blueColour full, a few outer florets starting to pale
The head in the handOpen and full, a little slower to spring back
The scaly baseBase green, scales dry and a shade paler at the tips
Smell at the headQuiet and green, close to nothing