Category Archives: flowers

If you follow me on Twitter (@AKentishKitchen), you will already know about this. If you don’t, or if you do, and simply want to know more, here’s what it’s all about… And if you have any questions, please tweet or DM me!

Kent-based food-loving Twitterers from around the county will gather at The Goods Shed on the evening of 9 March 2012 for a 5-course banquet, organised by Helen Parkins (@AKentishKitchen) and The Goods Shed, to celebrate and raise awareness of Kentish produce and to help put Kent on the map as a food-lovers’ destination. The menu will be created especially for the event by The Goods Shed’s chef, Rafael Lopez, who will showcase Kentish ingredients throughout the meal.

Kent has for long been known traditionally as the ‘Garden of England’, particularly for its orchard fruit production. It is also renowned for its hops, shellfish, Romney Marsh lamb and, more recently, its vineyards. Agricultural farmholdings, pastoral and arable, still make up about half of the county’s total area. Yet Kent’s produce is arguably less well known outside the county than it should be, and its restaurants and cafes rarely register on media lists of top places to eat.

The Goods Shed banquet will give those attending the opportunity to eat and drink Kent, to talk to the stallholders about their farm suppliers, and to taste exciting new products from small independent Kentish producers. There will also be a raffle held during the evening in aid of the Pilgrims Hospices, with prizes kindly donated Eastwell Manor, The Farmhouse, The Whitstable Hamper Company, and Foodari.

Helen Parkins said: “I am very excited about the event we’ve planned. It frustrates me that Kent isn’t better known as an area for food lovers to visit when we have so much fantastic produce here. I want to see if we can do something to change that. There seems to be a great groundswell of support for Kentish food and our small producers, and if the banquet is a success, I hope to organise more events like this around the county in the future”.

Few scents herald the approach of summer more enticingly than that of the elegant elderflower. Filling the hedgerows and fortunate gardens as it is wont to do in late May and early June, its creamy white heads and verdant foliage also make for a gorgeous visual extravaganza.

Happily for the cook, elderflower tastes as good as it looks. It is perhaps most commonly used to make drinks and flavour desserts, but it also makes wonderful floral fritters. When frying elderflower heads, it is imperative to use the lightest of batters, sufficient simply to bind the flowers together a little – anything heavier will dull its delicate flavours.

Here’s my recipe for this unique and most fleeting of early summer treats:

several elderflower heads
50g cornflour
100ml ice-cold sparkling or soda water
1 egg
pinch of salt
vegetable oil for frying

Whisk all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

Heat the oil in a frying pan until it just about starts to smoke. Dip the elderflower heads briskly through the batter, shake off the excess, and place in the pan, flowers down. Fry until crisp and golden.

Remove from the pan onto kitchen paper to remove extraneous oil. Place the heads on a plate dusted with icing sugar, and devour immediately.

Note: use only the freshest, whitest elderflower heads. Those that are fading or have already turned brown will be nowhere near as good, or worse, will positively spoil the taste. And you’ll need to be quick – elderflowers in full bloom are around only for a very short time.