Came across this recipe on : http://www.mcnargs.org/Newslet...

CANDIED SEMPERVIVUM FLOWERS

Freshly harvested sempervivum flowers, still on stalks
1 extra large egg white, at room temperature
1 tablespoon water
1 cup superfine sugar

Cut flowering stalks on a dry sunny day.
Wisk egg white with water.
Holding the stalk like a paintbrush, gently coat the flowers in egg white froth.
Set the stalks on waxed paper and sprinkle sugar across the flower heads.
Let the flowers dry overnight.
Cut off flower heads and save. Discard the stalks. Store the dried, candied sempervivum flowers in an airtight container until ready to use. They will keep up to a year but will be best if used in a few months.


"ABBIE ZABAR is an artist, writer and designer; when all else fails, she gardens. Abbie is a member of the Manhattan Chapter of NARGS and writes about gardening as an ongoing urban challenge."

Interesting.

This raises the issue for me as to whether Sempervivum are edible or not. I occasionally encounter the "rumor" that they are edible but when I go to look for hard information, cannot find any. However, they are called "house leeks" and leeks (the true kind) are edible.

Obviously, the flowers and a bit of the stem they are on are considered edible by this recipe. I'm wondering if anybody here has tried them. I'd also wonder about the use of uncooked eggs, although sugar by itself has some anti-bacterial and preservative properties.

Chris, do you have a link? Anybody have any good links for this topic?

Some sources state only the leaves and stem are edible.

http://rawedibleplants.blogspo...

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant...

http://www.naturalmedicinalher...

Found these references:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/...
http://betterlivingwithherbs.c...
http://rawedibleplants.blogspo...

Twit, the link for the recipe is the first line of my first post.

All interesting links!