The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured image: maddocksfarmorganics.org

We’re only a couple of weeks away from Valentine’s Day, and florists are getting ready for the season of romance. We know that we should be telling you about the city’s best florists, maybe later this week, but first, let us show you the fruits of our latest forage through social media.

As we were scrolling through our Instagram feed, we came across Azahir Farm, a local brand that claims to be the first to introduce edible flowers in Egypt. Surfing the Azahir Farm’s website, waves of distant memories followed of having encountered a handful of edible flowers recipes in some of those fancy lifestyle magazines.

Digging deeper into the topic, we discovered that, albeit being considered a gourmet ingredient, flowers have always been a classic in many cuisines across the globe; from Europe to Asia. But why go this far, when granny’s homemade rose jam happens to be our all-time favourite.

Back to our find, the brand offers a range of fresh and dried flowers in 10gm packs, with prices ranging between 50 and 75LE. Among its list are the fresh carnations, whose sweet flavour is a perfect match for drinks and desserts.

If you’re into something that’s somewhat savoury, the blue borage flowers, with their furry petals and star shape, is what you are looking for; they boast a refreshing taste that resembles that of cucumbers, which makes it perfect for salads.

Azahir Farm also has peppery marigolds on offer. Often dubbed ‘a poor man’s saffron’, marigolds are a cheap alternative to the high-priced spice. Speaking of spices, cornflowers have a hint of spice and subtle sweetness, which make it a culinary jack-of-all-trades, be it a savoury, or sweet recipe. Still can’t decide what to try first? Azahir Farm has packages that work for savoury recipes, and others for desserts.

When it comes to dried items, Calendula petals are another ingredient that can substitute saffron. The brand also has dried lavender buds. Make no mistake, they smell great; however, these buds need to be handled with care when it comes to being incorporated as a culinary item, or else your food will end up tasting like perfume.

Now that we’ve found our way out of Azahir Farm’s garden, what’s left to say is that the brand also offers a spectrum of edible leaves, herbs, baby vegetables, and more. And of course, they have an online shop.

One last thing we ask of you. After reading this article, kindly hush the inner Darwin in you if he lures you into chewing the first flower that comes in your way. It could be deadly poisonous.