Different parts of the lavender plant can indeed have different tastes, though the flowers (or buds) are overwhelmingly the preferred and most commonly used part for culinary purposes due to their concentrated and most desirable flavor profile.
Here's a breakdown of the typical taste differences:
1. Flowers (Buds):
-
Flavor Profile: This is where you find the quintessential "culinary lavender" taste. It's predominantly floral, sweet, and herbaceous, often with subtle citrus or minty undertones. These are the parts rich in linalool and linalyl acetate, the compounds responsible for the desirable aroma.
-
Culinary Use: Almost all recipes calling for "lavender" in cooking specifically refer to the dried or fresh flower buds. They are used in everything from baked goods (cookies, cakes), desserts (ice cream, custards), beverages (lemonade, tea, cocktails), to savory dishes (herbes de Provence, rubs for meats).
-
Potency: The dried buds are highly concentrated, making them very potent. This is why small amounts are always recommended.
2. Leaves:
-
Flavor Profile: Lavender leaves tend to have a more robust, herbaceous, and somewhat earthy or piney flavor, often resembling rosemary. They can also carry more of the slightly bitter or camphoraceous notes that are less desirable in culinary applications, particularly compared to the flowers. While they do contain aromatic compounds, the balance is different.
-
Culinary Use: While edible, lavender leaves are used much less frequently in cooking than the flowers. When they are used, it's typically in savory contexts where their stronger, more assertive herbal notes can complement ingredients like roasted meats, stews, or robust vegetable dishes. They are sometimes found in traditional herbes de Provence blends. Because of their more intense and potentially bitter flavor, they should be used even more sparingly than the flowers, often steeped and then removed, similar to bay leaves.
3. Stems:
-
Flavor Profile: Lavender stems generally have the strongest, most woody, and most camphoraceous flavor of all the plant parts. They contain essential oils, but these are often less refined and can contribute a harsher, more medicinal, or overtly "pine-like" taste.
-
Culinary Use: Stems are rarely used directly as a flavoring agent in dishes themselves. Their primary culinary use is typically for infusion, such as:
-
Skewers: Using lavender stems as skewers for grilled meats or vegetables can impart a subtle smoky, herbal aroma as they heat.
-
Infusing liquids: Some cooks might add a whole stem to a liquid (like a brine or a syrup) during an infusion process, then remove it before serving, to avoid the harsher notes from direct consumption.
-
Smoking: Occasionally, dried stems might be added to a smoker for imparting an aromatic scent to smoked foods, but again, this is about aroma rather than direct ingestion of the stem.
-