Wisteria “Misteri-a”/Wisteria petals spoon sweet

Wisteria… what a plant!… the look of it, the aroma and the color of its flowers, its appetite to grow and climb…and the fact that its blossoms appear suddenly almost all together and are always gone just too soon…Come back soon my beautiful Asian girl! (wisteria being native plant to China, Korea and Japan)There are some ways to capture a little bit of its essence and one of them is by keeping it captive in a jar.Is wisteria plant toxic?…In the way we use the wisteria petals in the recipe they are absolutely safe for consumption. Although the information propagated online is that “all parts of the plant are toxic” a careful search shows that the wisteria seeds that emerge after flowering as beans are toxic. Of course we don’t touch them. It is important to use only the aromatic petals and to discard the stem! 

Wisteria petals spoon sweet

Ingredients

* 40g wisteria flowers (7 moderate bunches)

* 150g of sugar

* 80g of water

* 60g of lemon juice

Method of execution

• Cut the blossom branches from the tree and leave them on a table for half an hour so any little bugs leave the flowers. Then shake gently and run your fingers along the branch to remove the flowers.
• Holding the blossom of each flower, remove the petals and drop the stamen.
• Place the petals in a bowl. When finished, gently wash them with tap water and strain them well.
• Return them to the bowl and sprinkle  them with two tablespoons of sugar and some lemon juice.
• Prepare the syrup in a separate pot with the remaining sugar and water.
• Once boiling, pour the mixture of flowers into the syrup and any juice that has the pan, cleaning with a spatula.
• Stir gently, boil at high temperature for 10 minutes  to preserve the color of the petals
• Add the lemon juice
• Reduce the temperature to medium and allow to boil for 10 minutes.
• Empty in a sterile jar, close with a sterile lid and allow to cool on the counter.
• Allow them to ripen in the cupboard before you open them and if you want to try them immediately put a jar in the fridge and try it after two days.

…It can be served as a spoon sweet with Greek coffee, after a lunchtime summer siesta, or on ice cream, yoghurt  or to flavour a fruit salad or a cake.

 

Klaudia DelmerFri, April 3, 2020Klaudia's recipes, Messinia, Traditional Greek recipes, Traditions