It’s more common for me to be running late with this column than it is for me to write it a year early, but the window for elderflowers is so short that by the time I was happy with my recipes for last year’s crop, it was too late to share them. So this week’s column is a whole year late, or bang on time, depending on how you look at it.
Do rush to pick those lovely little white flowers from the elderberry bush while you can. These large, flat-topped clusters grow as prolifically along urban roads and in parks and gardens as they do in countryside lanes, woods and hedgerows. Once you’ve picked your crop, you can stop the rushing, because the cordials and pickles you make with them have a long shelf life. Mind you, I always save a few flowers to eat straight away, fried in a light tempura batter. Don’t be put off by the rather musky aroma of the fresh-picked flowers: this disappears once they are cooked, and is replaced by one of the defining flavours of summer.
Tempura elderflower with creme fraiche ice-cream
You can buy freeze-dried strawberries in the baking section of most large supermarkets. This lush summer pudding serves eight.
10g freeze-dried strawberries
2 tsp caster sugar
About 400ml sunflower oil, for frying
40g plain flour
Salt
120ml sparkling water
8 heads of elderflower (80g), thick stems trimmed as much as possible, lightly rinsed to get rid of any insects, then gently patted dry
For the ice-cream
130g caster sugar
60ml lemon juice
90ml elderflower cordial
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
Finely grated zest of ½ small orange
300g creme fraiche
300g double cream
Start with the ice-cream. Put the sugar in a medium saucepan, pour over 230ml water and turn the heat to high. Cook for three to four minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the water is just starting to simmer. Leave to cool then stir in the lemon juice, cordial and citrus zest.
Whisk the creme fraiche and cream in a large bowl, then slowly pour in the sugar syrup, stirring as you do. Tip into an ice-cream machine and churn until frozen, then transfer to a sealed container and freeze until needed. (If you don’t have an ice-cream container, pour into a freezer-proof container with a lid, cover and freeze. After 30 minutes, give the mix a good stir or whisk and return to the freezer for another half-hour. Repeat twice more, then leave to freeze solid.) Take the ice-cream out of the freezer 15 or so minutes before serving, so it softens a little.
Blitz the dried strawberries to a fine powder (I use a spice grinder), then stir in a teaspoon of sugar.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium-high flame. While the oil is heating up, mix the flour with the remaining teaspoon of sugar and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, then whisk in the sparkling water.
Once the oil hits 160C (if you don’t have a thermometer or probe, drop a small blob of batter into the oil: if it starts to fry and brown quickly, it’s ready). Working with one elderflower head at a time, dip it in the batter and swirl around. Shake off any excess, then carefully lower into the oil (take care, because the batter is quite watery and thin, so will rise up and froth). Fry for 20 seconds, until golden-brown, then use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a wire rack lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with a little strawberry powder, and repeat with the remaining elderflower heads (reserve some of the powder to serve).
Divide the ice-cream between eight bowls and top each portion with a fried elderflower head. Sprinkle over the last of the powder and serve.
Elderflower pickle
Fills one 325ml jam jar.
50g elderflowers (18 heads)
200ml red-wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
10 black peppercorns
Rinse the elderflowers gently to get rid of any insects and press into the jam jar. Pour over the vinegar, add the sugar, salt and peppercorns. Seal the jar and put it in a large sauce pan filled with cold water. On a high heat, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for seven minutes. Remove the jar from the pan and set aside somewhere cool and dark for at least three weeks before using.
Elderflower and rose cordial
Use a rose from the garden, ideally, because shop-bought ones tend to be sprayed. And don’t worry that the infused liquid doesn’t look very appealing: when the lemon juice is added, the rose’s intense colour will return like magic. I like this with cold sparkling water and a slice of fresh lemon: you’ll need three tablespoons of cordial for every 200ml water. The cordial keeps in a sterilised bottle in the fridge for at least a month, though you’ll probably have used it all up by then anyway. Makes 800ml, to serve 18.
100g elderflower heads (about 12 heads), gently rinsed
Shaved skin of 2 small lemons
1 small red rose, petals picked (about 20 petals)
500ml boiling water
325g caster sugar
125ml lemon juice
Put the elderflower in a large bowl with the lemon skin and rose petals. Pour over the boiling water and press down the florets, making sure they’re submerged. Leave to cool, then cover the bowl and leave to infuse at room temperature for about 36 hours.
Strain the infusion into a medium saucepan, pressing against the flowers with the back of a spoon, to release all the liquid, and discard flowers, branches and rose petals. Add the sugar and lemon juice to the infusion, then turn on the heat to high and cook for three to four minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is starting to simmer. Take off the heat, leave to cool, then pour into a sterilised bottle, seal and store in the fridge.
Roast pork loin with celeriac and elderflower mash
If you don’t make the above pickle, add a tablespoon of elderflower cordial and two teaspoons of red-wine vinegar to the mash instead, and omit the pickled flower garnish at the end. This mash also works very well with Italian fennel sausages, incidentally. Serves six.
900g pork loin (or fillet), trimmed of any fat and sinew
1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and gently crushed
1 tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and gently crushed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, plus 1 whole garlic bulb
125ml olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1kg large celeriac, scrubbed clean and hairy stems removed
2 large baking potatoes
About 50ml elderflower pickling liquor, plus 6 heads of pickled blossoms (see previous recipe)
5g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
5g tarragon leaves
Put the pork in a bowl with two-thirds of the fennel and caraway seeds, the crushed garlic, three tablespoons of oil, a teaspoon and a half of salt and a good grind of pepper. Rub all over the meat, then put in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put the celeriac on a medium baking tray and roast for two and a half hours. After 90 minutes, cut off the top quarter of the garlic head, put the bulb on a square of foil and scatter over a teaspoon of oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap up loosely, then add the garlic parcel and the potatoes to the celeriac tray, and roast for an hour, until the potatoes and celeriac are soft and the garlic is caramelised.
Remove from the oven and peel the celeriac and potatoes once they are cool enough to handle. Put the flesh in a medium saucepan, then add the flesh from the garlic by squeezing it out of the skins. Add three tablespoons of oil, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, some pepper and three tablespoons of pickling liquor (if using).
Put the parsley, tarragon, two tablespoons of oil, a tablespoon of water and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt in the small bowl of a food processor. Blitz smooth, then stir in the remaining fennel and caraway seeds.
Put a large, nonstick frying pan on a high heat, then fry the pork for three to four minutes, turning it regularly, until browned all over. Transfer to a medium oven tray and roast for 17-20 minutes, until it’s almost cooked through and just pink inside. Leave to rest for five minutes, then cut into slices just under 1cm thick. Stir any cooking juices into the herb oil bowl.
To serve, gently warm through the mash and divide between six plates. Top with a few slices of pork and drizzle with a generous teaspoon of herb oil. Top each portion with a pickled elderflower branch, drizzle over a little of the liquor and serve.
Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.
Today in Cook: Clare Ptak bakes with elderflower.
