In March 2024, the LNW membership was surveyed on the topic of culinary lavender production, sales, and utilization. The top four Lavandula cultivars that members opted to use in their own culinary products were no surprise, based on our shared “conventional wisdom”. Here they are, in rank order:
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Royal Velvet’
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Provence’
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Melissa’
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Folgate’
There were, of course, numerous other cultivars mentioned, but these four were the most frequently incorporated into member’s own products. Fast forward to the April 13, 2024 LNW Western Oregon Regional Meeting where attendees participated in a blinded assessment of the buds from many different cultivars. We were asked to focus exclusively on culinary attributes of each sample: (1) its suitability for savory vs. sweet applications, (2) the presence of any off-putting notes, (3) the presence of particularly enticing notes, (4) any immediate associations with particular foods, beverages, or other herbs & spices, and (5) a general impression of whether the bud’s fragrance was usable or unsuitable for culinary purposes (and, if usable, did it stand out as something special among the wide variety of other samples). There was no attempt to assign scores or to rank individual samples. We simply provided gut impressions and individual opinions based on what we were able to perceive about each fragrance. Remember, as humans with differing allotments of olfactory receptors, we are incapable of smelling complex scents in exactly the same way as anyone else. But these samples were all Lavandula derivatives — just how different could they be? Well, the answer is along the lines of “more variable than one would expect.” Results of the entire olfactory and tasting exercises will be made available in due course. Meanwhile, let’s take a close look at what our blinded participants had to say about the four most commonly used cultivars.
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Folgate’
Savory vs. Sweet: Participants felt that Folgate’s fragrance could be applied in either sweet or savory contexts, but leaning toward the sweet-side more than any other cultivar sampled.
Scent Observations: No one made comments about any offensive notes in Folgate’s aroma profile. It was commended for smoothness, “cheerfulness”, and bright spice aspects.
Scent Associations: Jams/preserves, lemonade, cocktails, and blueberries were mentioned. Flavor associations included basil, clove, vanilla, and herbes de Provence.
Culinary Utility: Special 22%, Usable 66%, Unsuitable 22%.
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Melissa’
Savory vs. Sweet: Melissa’s fragrance was almost entirely weighted toward savory applications.
Scent Observations: No one mentioned any particularly enticing notes, and the solitary comment from those who found Melissa’s fragrance unappealing was “skunky”.
Scent Associations: Despite strong sentiments about Melissa’s savory character and questionable culinary suitablity (see below), no one came up with a specific food or beverage association. Fenugreek and mint were cited as herbal complements.
Culinary Utility: Special 14%, Usable 28%, Unsuitable 58%.
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Provence’
Savory vs. Sweet: Heavily weighted toward savory applications — almost to the same extreme as Melissa — Provence buds did register on the sweet-side with a couple participants.
Scent Observations: Also like Melissa, no one found specific enticing notes with Provence. Those discovering unattractive aspects mentioned the camphor-like notes, a mild but bitter green core note, and a generic “skunky” impression.
Scent Associations: Again like Melissa, no one linked Provence to a specific food or beverage. Flavor couplings included sage, rosemary, winter savory, and citrus.
Culinary Utility: Special 22%, Usable 22%, Unsuitable 56%.
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Royal Velvet’
Savory vs. Sweet: Participants felt that Royal Velvet’s fragrance was well-balanced for either class of culinary use, tipped slightly toward the sweet side.
Scent Observations: One person detected a “musty” note with one of our Royal Velvet samples. On the appealing side, mention was made of a honey-like impression, and an appealing mild green core.
Scent Associations: For the main sample of Royal Velvet, an affiliation with cheesecake and bubblegum was noted, along with citrus complementarity. We had two other Royal Velvet samples from different farms, and these conjured up more savory images of meats, vegetable dishes, and salad dressings, as well as flavor links to fennel, mustard, rosemary and nutmeg. Overall, these observations appear to align with the balanced sweet-savory utility of Royal Velvet.
Culinary Utility: Special 33%, Usable 39%, Unsuitable 28%.
Time to reassess our options?
Blind assessments are a useful tool when it comes to comparing variants of similar products. We are freed from our ingrained prejudices, and we can feel more comfortable “calling ’em like we see ’em” (or “smell ’em” in this case). While our participants contended with over 30 cultivars in this olfactory exercise, it was fairly easy to register the kind of emotional impressions that olfactory stimuli tend to create. But those feelings are divergent. There is no single lavender that uniformly attracts or repels everyone. However, some trends require attention. For instance, the fact that the majority of participants outright rejected both ‘Melissa’ and ‘Provence’ as unsuitable for culinary use should make us wonder whether we should really be using these cultivars preferentially in our culinary products. ‘Royal Velvet’ benefits from its balanced appeal, but its fragrance is not universally popular. Our data of other cultivars make it clear that we are probably being too restrictive about our choice of culinary buds, and may very well be mis-matching buds with recipes that are better suited to other fragrance profiles. More experimentation in the kitchen is certainly needed, with an eye toward helping lavender-lovers choose wisely for their own culinary creations. Stay tuned for more insights from our blind smelling and tasting data!
- Side-note on scent descriptions: In general, people have a tough time conjuring accurate words to describe scent impressions. However, for aspects of a fragrance that repel individuals, loose terms that convey a warning-message are often used. Such is the case with some of the descriptors we encountered, including “skunky” and “musty”. When used by an individual, terms like these reflect the alarming olfactory impression of something vaguely “skunk-like” or potentially “moldy”, which almost always results in rejection of the source as a culinary element.
Contributed by
Michael Lemmers & Chris Mulder
RavenCroft & Barn Owl Nursery
Edited & formatted by
Michael Lemmers
RavenCroft
