Although they work fairly well in sweets, they are less aromatic than violets; they are wonderful in savoury dishes such as salads, soups, fish dishes or even deep-fried like you would a courgette flower; in France, these beautiful flowers have often been used in meat dishes, especially veal.

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Another flavour combination that is strong with nostalgia, dandelion and burdock sweets are just as tasty today as they’ve ever been. Image credits: featured image – sweet violets by Patrick Standish; roadside violet by coniferconifer; violets by Mariya Chorna; ‘The Nosegay of Violets’ by Irina (Flickr); violets by Maia C; Parma violet from Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse (London and New York: Frederick Warne co. In 1933 the firm merged with a rival factory owner, David Dee, who specialised in fizzy compressed tablet sweets (although the company officially became Swizzels Matlow Ltd only in 1975). Violets are best put in a vase lightly tied together, so that the entire opening of the vase is filled up.They continued to be grown in Europe in the Middle Ages, but it was in the 18 th and 19 th centuries that they developed into a cultural phenomenon. History and Cultivation of Parma Violets (Viola, Violaceae) in the United Kingdom and France in the Nineteenth Century" (PDF). If they are to be grown in the same place, the soil needs to be partly replaced and improved with compost. It is estimated that at the beginning of the 1880’s, about six million violet bunches were sold every year in Paris. A 100 plants of a prolific double lavender cultivar ‘Lady Hume Campbell’, popular with British growers, could produce 600 to 1000 flowers weekly.

Parma Violets - Wikipedia

The act of growing violets and using crystallized ones on top of cakes has been around since the 1500s when they were grown by elite members of society for this purpose. In 1940, the Blitz forced their business to relocate northwards to a disused wick factory in New Mills, Derbyshire, where it remains.No wonder then that these aromatic little blooms are a the embodiment of an Italian spring garden, a Lavolio and an edible flower favourite. Leaves and flowers of wild and sweet violet are edible and can be used in salads and as a decoration in cakes and ice-creams. Parma Violets are a British violet-flavoured tablet confectionery manufactured by the Derbyshire company Swizzels Matlow, [1] named after the Parma violet variety of the flower. It is said that violet sugar was king Edward I’s favourite, simply achieved by layering the flowers in jars of caster sugar (if you do try this at home, make sure that the violets are free of chemicals and pesticides; the longer you leave them in the sugar, the stronger the flavour will be).