Can you cook with onion flowers?

[Jed Dilligan]

I was just walking in the community garden and came across something I hadn't seen before--an onion plant in full bloom.

Here's a link for the visual:

http://www.dreamstime.com/onionflower2-image8649

Out of curiosity I tasted the flower and found it fascinating, from a culinary perspective--a concentrated blend of onion, radish, and garlic flavors. It surprises me this isn't commonly used in cooking. Is there something about it that keeps people from using it? I salvaged one from a pulled plant and brought it home, and I'm hankering to cook it down in some olive oil and see what happens!

[Critters2]

1. Not sure. You can cook with chive flowers, which are quite tasty.

So, I'd guess you can cook with onion flowers. Not 100% sure, but I'd say probably.

[Jed Dilligan]

2. That sounds yummy.

Every spring, I fall in love again with the whole onion family--spring onions and leeks especially. I made an awesome potato/spring onion/leek soup last weekend. It's getting hot here, so we were enjoying it chilled and pureed with a dollop of yogurt.

[Jed Dilligan]

3. Kick for daytime.

nt

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Yep, according to this link at answers

As mycritters2 wrote, chive blossoms are edible and tasty too. I've never eaten onion blooms because I don't let the onions flower --it ruins the chance that the plant will produce a nice sturdy bulb.

They are pretty flowers. There are ornamental alliums sold just for the flowers.

follow this link to get to their source reference where it suggests using them in salads.
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-edible-flowers

[Jed Dilligan]

5. Thanks GC

I will give it a try over the weekend and report results in case anyone's interested. For now, the bloom is in a glass of water in the kitchen.

I was having trouble finding the answer on the web because there are so many recipes for "onion flower," the deep-fried dish.

[China_cat]

6. We used to let some of our onions bloom in order to set seed.

Never tried eating them, though.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. So, ya gonna make a bloomin onion?

[Jed Dilligan]

8. Oi, wot's it to you, mate?