Adding flowers to food isn’t a novel idea; chefs have long used blossoms to add visual appeal to salads and scattered colorful petals atop cakes. But in the right hands, any of the nearly 200 species of edible blooms — from the bitter sdao flowers used in Cambodian cuisine to the mildly sweet Eastern redbuds that bloom each spring in Brooklyn — can be more than just a decorative element. “The fresh flower is what most people think of,” says the chef Randy Rucker, 46, but when you, for instance, dry them, ferment them or pulverize them in a blender with lime, “the flavor morphs into something completely different.” We asked Rucker and two other Philadelphia-based chefs to show us how they harness the taste of edible flowers, with recipes that are a celebration of summer’s fleeting abundance.
For our 2026 Summer Entertaining Issue, T drops in on meals shared around the world — and offers tips for your own gatherings.
– Fresh-cut herbs and a tea party: New Jersey never smelled this good.
– In Mexico City, a seafood feast enjoyed amid vibrant market blooms.
– Sidewalk dining on a hot night in Bangkok.
– A pair of American artists throw a garden party on the Spanish island of Minorca.
– Craft your own Icelandic poppy centerpiece from crepe paper.
– Expert advice on how to be a good guest (the kind that gets asked back) at a dinner party.
– Chefs’ recipes for edible flowers in dishes savory and sweet.
Rhonda Saltzman’s Jasmine Blossom Doughnuts
During the pastry chef Rhonda Saltzman’s childhood, challah always signified tradition, community and the arrival of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest that begins at sunset each Friday. Years later, Saltzman, now 34 and a co-owner, with her sister Mercedes Brooks of Second Daughter, a bustling bakery that opened in 2021 in South Philadelphia, realized the same enriched dough could be used for sticky buns, dinner rolls and these exceptionally light doughnuts. To make them, she uses flowers two ways, steeping jasmine blossoms — which have a delicate, sweet flavor — into the glaze, and then sprinkling a mix of edible flowers (use whatever you can get at your local farmer’s market) on top to add color and texture.
Source: The New York Times
