Browsing through Pascal Aussignac's cook book Cuisinier Gascon, I stumbled upon his recipe for Primavera Tulips, and was blowm away by the invention of the dish. I've made stuffed courgette flowers many time, and used edible flowers in salads or as prettty garnishes, but I was completly unaware that tulips are also edible.
This time of year there were plenty to be found blooming in my garden; so I thought why not give it as try?
I didn't have some of the ingredients that Pascal uses, so made some substituitions (He uses tapioca instead of polenta, and sugar snap peas instead of broad beans). Here's the recipe for my version:
And here's the finished product:
The tulip stems have an asparagus-like flavour and the flowers are herby and grassy in taste. I think that asparagus would also work really nicely in the stuffing mixture, it was a shame that I didn't have any.
If you're looking for something a little different to cook, and you have plenty of tulips growing, why not give this a try?
