From the old forum Food Archive:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000dLL

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 03, 1999

Answers

Howdy OG...have you personally tried tasting day lilies, etc.? I wondered what your opinion was. Also, is it the petals only that you eat on the flower?

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), December 03, 1999.

It was an edited copy of a Euell Gibbons chapter. No, I haven't tasted them, but Gibbons seems to infer they taste like beans or asparagus, depending on which part of the plant is eaten. I've reproduced Gibbons' piece but there's a lot more information on edible plants in different posts on that thread.

From Euell Gibbons' Stalking the Wild Asparagus, David McKay Company, New York, 1962 (no ISBN).

". . . Gather the unopened flower buds when they are nearly full-sized, boil only a few minutes, then butter, season and serve like green beans. . . dip the buds, or even the opened blossoms, in a rich egg batter, then quickly fry in very hot fat to a golden brown. . . . Buds and flowers can be added during the last few minutes of cooking to soups and stews. Like okra, they impart a desirable gelatinous quality and the flavor is delightful. . . . The closed and withered blooms of yesterday. . . are good for food too. . . soups and stews. The Oriental . . . also dries large quantities for out of season use.

The day lily. . . also produces edible tubers underground. . . freed of connecting rhizomes and tiny feeder roots, washed and boiled in salted water for about fifteen minutes, they have the sweetness and texture of whole-grain sweet corn and a mild and delicious flavor all their own. They can be dug any time of the year when the ground is not frozen. The older tubers become soft and inedible so use only those which are firm. . . .

In the spring, long before the bloom stalks appear, the sprouting stalks of day lilies are edible. Cut just above the roots and, the larger leaves removed, the tender inner portions of the stalk can be sliced into a tossed salad or cooked like asparagus. . . ."

Edited and typed by

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 03, 1999.

I have been told by a daylily hybridizer that every part of the daylily may be eaten. In fact somewhere around here, I have a book with daylily recipes. If anyone is interested please indicate by posting here and I will find the book and post useful material.

-- Ruth Edwards (REath29646@aol.com), December 03, 1999.

Our family has been eating daylilies for a number of years. The buds DO taste a bit like green beans when steamed. The tubers are small, but delicious. The flowers we dip in a thin pancake batter and fry. The kids aren't too crazy about the petals, though. Hope this helps.

-- Kathy (meto-meto@gottaloveit.com), December 03, 1999.