Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia · Edible flower
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Lavender is the fragrant flowering herb of Lavandula angustifolia (English or "true" lavender), a small evergreen shrub of the mint family grown for its purple flower spikes. In the kitchen the dried buds lend a sweet, floral, faintly camphorous note to baking, syrups and the herb blend herbes de Provence — and a little goes a long way.
Picking a good onedrag
Deep violet buds, sweet and floralGrey dust and stalk, no scent
Shop freshEveryday bestThe ordinary culinary jar, in date. Use it by the pinch - a teaspoon of buds is plenty for a batch of shortbread - and lavender is likely safe in the amounts foods actually use; the FDA lists it among the spices and seasonings generally recognised as safe for their intended use, which is to say as a flavouring. The overdose you will meet is a flavour one: too much turns a dish perfumed, bitter and soapy. Lavandin and Spanish lavender taste camphorous beside true lavender - an objection to the flavour, not a poison. Concentrated lavender essential oil is a different article at a different strength and is not a substitute for buds.
Where it came fromFood merchant's bulk buds, unlabelled type
Colour of the budsViolet dulling toward grey-purple
What is in the packetBuds clean, a little stem and fines
Rubbed between the fingersCrush readily, still hold their shape
Scent when rubbedFloral clear, the sweetness quieter