May is the peak flowering period of the elder. One of the great pleasures of life is to take some time to go to fields, woods and meadows to collect wild herbs, roots, fruits, shrubs and then use them best in the kitchen. You really have to wander with your imagination: nettles, borage, salicornia, wild fennel …
If, for a certain period of time, it hasn't taken a long time to leave the home, then, on closer inspection, it can be considered a real luxury.
The privilege we allow ourselves here today is to go in search of elderberry flowers, learn to recognize them, take them home and turn them into something good.

Find and recognize good elderberry
The elderberry flowering period runs from late April to late May. It is really easy to find in Italy: it grows spontaneously as soon as there is a hint of nature that manifests itself spontaneously. Yes, because it is found in the woods, in the countryside, near small streams and even in city parks (where the only limit may be smog).
It is essential to immediately distinguish between Sambucus Nigra, also known as Common Elder, edible and Sambucus Ebulus, also known as Ebbio, toxic.
The good one is a real plant that can reach up to 8 meters in height and, despite being considered a shrub, it has a consistent and woody stem and branches, inside which there is an unmistakable white and spongy marrow. The flowers are very fragrant, they are small, dense, like the small umbrella-shaped bouquets of homogeneous cream white color. Each flower has 5 petals.

In July-August the fruits are also picked, berries harvested as in small clusters of dark color, tending to purplish black.

The Ebbio, toxic, on the contrary it is lower, reaches a maximum of one and a half meters in height. The flowers are more irregular, slightly larger and have no uniform color: they have parts tending towards intense pink. The berries have the same color as the edible ones and the same ripening period. To distinguish them, attention must be paid to their arrangement. Those of the Ebbio point upwards, are grouped in small erect bunches. While in the common elder they are facing down.

Use in the kitchen
The flowers can be used to make elderberry omelette or syrup. Berries are excellent for jam.

Elderberry omelette
For all the preparations it is necessary to wash the flowers very gently and let them dry slightly on a towel and remove the hard parts of the twigs with scissors.
For the omelette: beat 3 eggs, a pinch of salt (if you like you can also add a little fresh cream or grated Parmesan), dip the flowers (we calculate a proportion of 1-2 umbrellas for each egg), then cooks the omelette in a pan or in the oven. The same preparation can be done with acacia flowers.

Elderberry syrup
For 2 liters of syrup, put 4-5 well-washed and sliced ​​untreated lemons, 10-12 elderflowers and 1.5 liters of natural mineral water in a large jar. Press lemons and flowers with a wooden spoon so that they are well submerged, close tightly and leave to rest in the fridge for 36 hours.
Line a strainer with gauze, filter the liquid by pouring it into a pot and crushing lemons and flowers well. Add 1.5 kg of sugar and 180 ml of apple cider vinegar, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring. Turn off the heat and pour the still boiling syrup into glass bottles. Close tightly, let cool and keep in the fridge for no more than a month. Use the syrup diluted in natural or sparkling water with a little lemon juice for one refreshing drink. Or in cocktails, such as refined Hugo, based on prosecco, mint leaves and lime juice. In the kitchen you can use it to enrich sorbets, Bavarians, panna cotta, cheesecakes, creams and mousses.

by Barbara Roncarolo
May 2020
Photo by: Haininhphoto, Alexas_Fotos, Anemone123, RitaE