Handle an open bloom for a second and check your fingertip. That yellow dust is pollen. Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County says pollen distracts from the flavor of the petal, and the petal is the part you eat. So for most flowers the answer is yes. Removing pistils and stamens is the first move before a bloom goes anywhere near a plate.
The pistil is the single stalk standing in the center of the flower, and it ends in a small sticky knob at the top. Around it sits a ring of thin filaments called stamens. Each one is tipped with an anther, the tiny sac that holds the pollen. Those parts do the plant's seed making, and they taste bitter, along with the stems. Flavor lives in the petal. Take the center out and you keep the taste you wanted without the dusty edge that comes with it.
The size of the center tells you how much work you are in for. A rose or a marigold has a dense cluster of anthers packed in the middle, and that is a real mouthful of pollen if you leave it there. A viola is mostly petal with a center about the size of a pinhead. Pull one clean petal and taste it, then taste a whole small bloom with the center still in. The difference is not subtle, and it shows up strongest in anything you serve raw, like a salad or a garnish on a cold dessert.
There is a short version of the rule that covers most of these cases. Only the petals of most edible flowers are meant to be eaten, so anything that is not petal counts as trim. Treat the center the way you treat a tough stem end or a seed core, and pull it before the flower gets near the rest of the food. Stems come off for the same reason, since they carry the same bitter edge as the anthers.
Two flower-specific rules come with the general one. Sepals, the small green leaves cupping the bloom from underneath, come off every flower except violas, Johnny jump-ups, and pansies. Those three go on the plate whole, sepals and all. The other rule covers the bitter petal base, the white heel at the spot where each petal joined the flower. Break that white area off roses, dianthus, English daisies, and marigolds. It is one pinch per petal, and it keeps a bitter note out of the finished dish.
Preparing edible flowers goes faster when you work in one direction and finish each bloom before you pick up the next. Hold the flower by its base, snap the green cup off, and pull the petals free in a fan. Tip it over and shake the loose pollen out if the anthers have split open. Then pinch the white heel off each petal. Work over a bowl so you can see what drops, because that is also how you catch an aphid hiding in the folds.
Order matters more than people expect. Strip the parts first, then wash the petals right before you use them. A light rinse takes off the dirt and gives you one last look for insects. Do it the other way around and you spend the rest of the job pulling apart wet petals that stick to each other and to your fingers.
One caution belongs at the end here. Pollen can set off a reaction in people with asthma, hay fever, or other allergies, so use caution when you serve flowers to a group. Clearing the anthers out gives those guests one less thing to worry about. Tell them what is in the dish too, since a flower on a plate does not read as food to everyone. The center comes out in one pinch either way.
Read the full article: Edible Flowers: What to Eat, What to Skip
