Pansy
Viola x wittrockiana · Edible flower
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The pansy (Viola x wittrockiana) is a low, cool-season garden plant whose large, five-petalled flowers — often patterned with a dark central "face" — are edible. Mild and faintly grassy-sweet, the blooms are used whole as a garnish, candied, or pressed flat into cakes, shortbread and laminated pasta.
Picking a good onedrag
Just opened, velvety and springyLimp and see-through, browning at the edges
Punnet freshEveryday bestRaw and whole: petals, sepals and buds, scattered over the plate. Check the label says pansy or viola, as African violet is not food.
Where it came fromFrom a grower who sells it to be eaten, not to be planted out
The petalsColour still strong, the outer petals just starting to soften
The flower in the handSofter under the thumb, slower to spring back open
Smell at the punnetNo scent to speak of, which is normal, and the air is dry