Flower Power Arrives In France

PARIS — In the highly competitive world of French haute cuisine, chefs are always on the look out for a unique ingredient that will lift their dishes above the ordinary.

It may be truffle shavings sniffed out by a particularly sensuous pig, fragrant bark from the Himalayas, or hand-picked Thai spices.

Now, however, fresh flowers are all the rage in the finest Parisian kitchens. Bunches are being ordered from florists every morning to produce exotic sounding meals, including langoustine and veal in daisy gravy, carnation and herb salad, and nasturtium sauce.

Nor is the "flower power" approach to food a passing fad. Yannick Alleno, the Michelin three-star chef who runs the restaurants of the famous Meurice hotel, recently announced that "France is now my garden," and is plying his dishes liberally with petals from every region.

Jean-Francois Rouquette, a chef at the nearby Park Hyatt, has even devised a specialist flower menu — featuring mussels with foie gras, saffron and nasturtiums.

But cooking with flowers can be a problem.

"Flowers are even more fragile than herbs," Mr. Rouquette said.

Benoist Rambaud, a chef at the Jardin des Cygnes restaurant at the Prince de Galles hotel, said: "After 48 hours in the fridge, they lose their taste."

Pierrette Nardo, another French chef, runs floral gastronomy workshops. Claiming that gourmets should regularly use "between 20 and 30 different types of flowers," she added: "I use them every day."

For dishes such as begonia soup, terrines using chrysanthemums and hemerocallis quiche, she grows her own flowers and says the new cuisine "is easy for anyone."