Table Talk: Cooking with calendula, Herb of the Year

By CLAIRE HOPLEY

Published on July 11, 2008

Every year the Florida-based International Herb Society picks an Herb of the Year with the aim of highlighting its special qualities.

In recent years they have chosen basil, garlic, oregano and marjoram - all familiar kitchen favorites. But this year's herb is calendula, the orange daisy-like flower often called pot marigold.

It appears often in herbal remedies and toiletries, but it can scarcely be called a staple of our cooking. Indeed, its selection as Herb of the Year might disappoint cooks who enjoy using the yearly selection in their dishes. Some might feel their interests have been overlooked, that this is a year when they will miss out on trying something new with the featured herb.

But calendula is no newcomer to the kitchen. In England, where it's called simply marigold, it grows exuberantly. The frost is rarely harsh enough to kill it, so it self-seeds, returning year after year. Further south it grows even better, producing new flowers virtually every month - hence its Latin name, Calendula, which comes from kalends, the Latin word for month.

The English "marigold" comes from the Middle Ages, when the Virgin is supposed to have worn golden blossoms, and so the golden bright flower was named in her honor. It appears also as "marigold," "marybud" and "holigold."

Of course, our ancestors could not forebear to use such a hardy and omnipresent gift of Nature, so marigold/calendula was a standard ingredient in the cooking of England and other northern European countries from the Middle Ages until at least the 19th century. It also played a medical role, soothing inflammations and aiding digestion.

Naturally, the 17th-century English emigrants who made their way to the eastern shores of America brought it with them. Now it has disappeared from kitchens in both countries unless the cook in charge has been seriously interested in herbs and their old uses. In the case of marigold/calendula, its uses are manifold. Its petals give a yellowy dye - which comes from carotene - so one of its traditional uses was to heighten the color of cheese and butter. It was even used in beer, as William Younger noted in 1551, when he wrote, "Some use to make their beer yellow . . . not being content with the color."

In its role as a dye, marigold was a cheaper home-grown substitute for expensive, imported saffron, and though it doesn't taste like saffron, it can fill in for it when you want a sunshiny hue in rice pilafs or fish dishes.

Another of the uses for marigold/calendula in the past was in soups, stews and broths. To these it lent color, slight tangy flavor, and since the flowers were sometimes dropped in whole, they even played a role as one of the vegetables.

Writing about "Dutchland" - Holland and Germany - in the 17th century, the English herbalist John Gerard, noted, "The Flowers are dried . . . against Winter to put into broths . . . in such quantity that in some Grocers or Spice-Sellers are to be found barrels filled with them . . . insomuch as no broths are well-made without dried Marigolds."

Like many herbs, marigold/calendula can also be made into a tea. When Charles Francatelli, one of Queen Victoria's chefs, wrote a manual called "A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes," he noted that the cheap tea that 19th-century grocers sold to poorer people was so adulterated that herbal teas were better, and he particularly recommended "marygold" tea.

Modern herbalists have explored these old uses of calendula and come up with some new ones. One of the easiest is to use some of the tender leaves in salads and to scatter petals on top, or to use whole flower heads as garnishes. The bright color contrasts dramatically with lettuce and other greens, making a simple salad look special.

For a more striking effect, the petals can be teamed with other salad flowers such as small blue borage flowers or violets, or they can add an accent to peppery nasturtium flowers in a salad. Similarly, they can be a highlighting garnish to light green vegetables such as zucchini or cucumber.

These uses take advantage of the bright orange or yellow of the calendula flowers, but some writers on herbs have developed recipes that draw on its mild tanginess as well as its color. Lesley Bremness, for example, has a recipe for a marigold sauce aurora for serving with pasta. Frances Bissell has several in her new book "The Scented Kitchen" (Serif, 2007), including Terrine of Marigold Potatoes and Leeks, Cheddar and Marigold Scones, Marigold Muffins and an orange-flavored sponge cake enhanced with marigold petals.

The last two are basic recipes with added marigold petals, suggesting how easy it is to include this pretty flower in your cooking by simply tossing in some petals as the spirit moves you.

Whenever you use flowers in cooking, make sure that they have not been sprayed with pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Ideally, pick flowers from your own garden so you know what their life history has been. Note, too, the word "marigold" is also applied to an entirely different plant: the bedding-out marigolds with feathery leaves used in borders. This kind of marigold (Tagetes patula), sometimes called French marigold or African marigold, is not edible. Make sure you use pot marigolds, Latin name, Calendula officianalis.

MARIGOLD AND LAVENDER CREAM CHEESE

In this recipe the marigold, lavender and parsley give pretty colors and attractive flavors. It's an attractive cheese to serve outdoors with drinks or before a meal. If you don't have lavender in your garden, buy lavender from stores that sell bulk herbs. They usually have lavender especially packed for culinary use. The parsley or dill is a minor ingredient. All you need is very little, just enough to give a few contrasting leafy flecks to the cheese.

8-ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

1 teaspoon lavender flowers

¼ teaspoon finely chopped parsley or dill

pinch salt

3 tablespoons fresh marigold (calendula) petals

Mash the cheese with the lavender, parsley and salt. Fold in the marigold petals. Aim to distribute the parsley, lavender and marigold thoroughly throughout the cheese. Serve with plain crackers or bread.

TERRINE OF GOAT'S CHEESE WITH MARIGOLD POTATOES AND LEEKS

This recipe comes from "The Scented Kitchen" by Frances Bissell, published in England by Serif, and in the U.S.A. by Interlink of Northampton in 2007. This book, written by one of Britain's favorite food writers, has a wonderful array of recipes for many flowers. It's a real inspiration to both gardeners and cooks. As for this recipe, Bissell notes that if you don't like the characteristic flavor of goat's cheese you can substitute another soft cheese. She suggests the dish for a summer buffet, or as a first course for a vegetarian meal, though she notes, "I have yet to meat a carnivore who does not enjoy it."

It would also be a wonderful make-ahead dish for a summer supper. If you don't have a terrine, you can use any reasonably deep dish - a straight-sided casserole for example, or a loaf pan.

4-5 large potatoes

6 large leeks, sliced

1 pound soft goat's cheese (or other soft cheese)

2 handfuls marigold petals

salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until just tender, drain and slice them thinly when cool enough to handle.

Remove the outer skins from the leeks and boil them until soft but still bright green.

Take half the goat's cheese and mix in the marigold petals with a fork. Oil a terrine and layer the potatoes with the leeks and the goat's cheese - both the plain and that mixed with marigold petals - seasoning lightly with the salt and pepper and finishing with a layer of potatoes. Cover with food wrap (such as plastic wrap), and weight it down heavily for at least 4 hours or overnight to make for easy slicing. (You can use unopened cans of vegetables or jars of jam as the weights.)

TAGLIATELLE WITH MARIGOLD SAUCE AURORE

This recipe is adapted from "The Complete Book of Herbs" by Lesley Bremness (Viking, 1988). A medium cheddar or a gouda is a good cheese to choose for this dish. Lesley Bremness suggests green tagliatelle, but the pale orange sauce looks prettier against the creamy color of regular tagliatelle.

1½ cups milk

1 large onion, quartered

6 tablespoons marigold (calendula) petals

2 large carrots, cut into disks

1 bay leaf

4 ounces (1 stick) butter

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1½ cups cheese, grated

salt and white pepper

8 ounces tagliatelle

Place the milk, onion, 4 tablespoons of the marigold petals, carrots and bay leaf in a saucepan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Pour the milk through a sieve into a pitcher. Reserve the carrot and onion pieces.

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time. Gradually add the flavored milk, still stirring, and bring to simmering point. Press the cooked carrot and onion through the sieve and add to this sauce. Fold in the cheese and season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Cook the tagliatelle according to the package directions in boiling, salted water until it reaches the al dente stage. Toss with the sauce. For serving, scatter the remaining 2 tablespoons of marigold petals on top of the pasta.

MARIGOLD SALAD

This recipe comes from Dorothy Hartley's "Food in England" (Macdonald, 1954). Vinaigrette or another clear dressing would be better here than the mayonnaise often used in potato salads.

Take 4 cups of cold, waxy, diced potatoes, 1 cup of watercress leaves, and a very small bunch of chives; mix together with a cup of good dressing, and stir in 1 cup marigold petals, using a few loose on the top, in place of the usual egg.