Culinary uses of Mexican edible flowers: Recipe analysis.

Mexican edible flowers are generally not consumed raw, but little attention has been paid to the ways in which traditional Mexican cuisine treats the different flower species in terms of dish types in which they appear, cooking methods and times, ingredient pairings, and other variables. The aim of the present work was to study the cooking process of four commonly consumed species of Mexican edible flowers, using traditional recipe collections and on-line recipes as a data source. In particular, the Mexican edible flowers considered in this work were squash blossoms (Cucurbita spp.), yucca flowers (Yucca spp.), coral tree flowers (Erythrina spp.), and agave flowers (Agave spp.). A total of 372 edible flower recipes were analysed for cooking variables and preferred ingredient patterns, using a variety of methods including crosstabs with chi-square tests, ingredient frequencies and word clouds, and hierarchical cluster analysis. Squash blossoms recipes showed differences with the other Mexican edible flower recipes and these results are discussed in terms of French cuisine influence on Mexican gastronomy during the 19th century. Importantly, the cluster analysis also revealed several prototypical ways of endemic edible flower consumption in Mexico. These flowers are typically either combined with maize in stews and tamales , or combined with eggs and dairy products. • The Mexican edible flower (MEF) species determines the way it is cooked and consumed. • Squash blossoms are cooked differently than yucca, coral tree, and agave flowers. • MEFs distinctively combine with maize, meat, eggs, dairy products, and vegetables. • Prototypical MEF dishes include stews, soups, sauces, scrambled eggs, and tamales. • MEFs have great potential to be used as vegetables in international cuisines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]