Hibiscus flowers
June 12, 2005
One million years ago, when I was a little girl, I had a piano teacher called Miss Pierce. She was an elegant and graceful woman, and ancient, as far as I was concerned. She was the secret girlfriend of Mr. Greenjeans, from the chilluns' TV show, Captain Kangaroo! We lived in a university town full of orange and date orchards on the edge of the desert, and Miss Pierce was probably one of the few people there that fulfilled for me, in her own wierd and spinster way, the notion of what it is to be 'fabulous'.
I used to arrive at her strangely decorated house for lessons with my neighbour Michelle, who was even more of a tomboy than I was. The two of us played so rambunctiously that Miss Pierce decided to give us 'lady-lessons' at no extra charge. We agreed to the lady-lessons because we just loved listening to Miss Pierce blather on and on about table manners and gentlemen as we sipped hibiscus tea and nibbled girlscout cookies, all the while kicking eachother surreptitiously under the table.
Miss Pierce liked her hibiscus tea incredibly sour but I never added sugar because sugar was 'white death', and I was trying to get my head around enjoying sour things. Hibiscus flowers in their wet form, alive and still on the tree, are forever connected in my mind with my father and his battle against vast herds of aphids. But hibiscus flower in its dry form and as a tea still reminds me of my piano teacher, Miss Pierce, patiently battling to turn me and Michelle into ladies.
Today I'm experimenting with using hibiscus flower as a souring agent in a batch of quick pickles and a vegetable broth intended for a summer borscht although 12°c doesn't really qualify as summer.
Hibiscus daikon pickles
daikon radish, thinly sliced
dried hibiscus flowers
rice wine vinegar
coriander seeds
juniper berries
garlic, thinly sliced
salt
bay laurel
debra at 02:25 PM June 12, 2005 | post to del.icio.us
Comments
What is that red liquid(juniper berries?)above the rolled daikon in third photo?
posted by Indira at June 13, 2005 12:33 AM
Hi Indira, This is a very strong hibiscus infusion that I am using to dye the daikon strips red and make them sour. I threw some rock salt on the lot, also the rolls below, and the salt leached out juices from the daikon, producing more brine. In some of the rolls I put in the hibiscus flowers dry and others I had soaked it for a few minutes to get it pliable. I wanted to see the difference in the dying effect. Last night I tasted the daikon pickle and it was really delicious. Today I'll taste again and report back.
posted by debra at June 13, 2005 09:35 AM
Juniper berries are in the second photo along with coriander etc, now I understand. Thanks for explaining again.
posted by Indira at June 13, 2005 01:40 PM
I was a little girl over 2 million years ago so I can't even remember the name of my piano teacher. She was certainly far too old and craggy to have any kind of boyfriend, though, especially a famous one.
Your ideas in the kitchen are so astounding. I am inspired by you, but helpless to act on it because the level of your creativity raises the bar so high, I don't think I could touch it, even if I jumped as hard as I could.
posted by Sam at June 27, 2005 11:17 PM
You flatter me, dear Sam. Thank you.
You made my evening with your sweet comment.
posted by debra at June 27, 2005 11:59 PM
This is the most interesting pickle I have ever seen! I am curious to learn how they taste.
Btw. did you see the pickle shops in Istanbul when you came here? They are just mouthwatering!
posted by Isil at January 25, 2006 12:23 AM
I came across your site and enjoyed my visit. Thank You.
posted by Andrew Spark at March 20, 2006 11:21 AM
Ooo sweet D thank you for making my days with your blog!
posted by marlein at April 15, 2006 02:16 PM
Hi. Exactly how do you dry hibiscus flowers?
I have Hundreds of hibiscus flowers each year, but never dranked the tea!
posted by Antonio Ferreira at May 14, 2006 10:59 PM
