Linden cannot be bought for the kitchen but must be foraged for. So the first step you must take in order to sample the delights offered here is to find your linden tree.

First things first, here's a really excellent video on identifying the linden. It was done in the winter which is the hardest time of the year to identify most plants so it's doubly nice. I don't know if the contest he speaks of is still being done, but I will be checking on it!

These videos seem to be a wealth of information. This is the first one of several videos. I wasn't able to watch them all but I'm going to pass it along.

Now for some recipes. This video starts with an easy, tasty way to use the young leaves on a cucumber sandwich. The perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea.

This site has some great information on this particular page and a recipe for linden leaf porridge that I'd like to try. I tried to access this site further in order to both find some other recipes and provide a link to the homepage, but all access was denied. Being a plant geek and not a tech geek, I'm stymied. As soon as my tech support is done plowing the driveway, I'll get him to look into it. If he gets anywhere I'll post you an update.

UPDATE: Apparently the site has been made inactive. The links don't work but the archives seem to be there. I'm busily cavorting though them now. I've found quite a few that I'd like to try.

Here's a simple recipe for a sweetish loaf of bread. I came across a reference to the use of linden flour to stretch wheat flour being common Medieval practice but I've been unable to find a confirmation of that.

If you'd like a little something to go on your bread you can drizzle it with linden honey. It's a staple in my house. For those of you in the Central New York region, my supplier is Lake Bluff Honeybee Farm. They are lovely people and their honey is excellent. I'd supply a link but they don't have a website. You can find them at the Syracuse Regional Market.

Or, they say that the immature seeds make a chocolate-flavored paste. You could try making some Linden Chocolate yourself. Here’s how:

Mix 12 parts immature seed to 1 part dried flowers and process, either in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle.
Add enough grapeseed oil to help you make it into a paste.
Use it immediately, it loses its flavor very quickly.

On the other hand, it may be less satisfactory than, say, chocolate.  To be fair, I do recall reading somewhere that you need to crack the kernel of the seed open and use just the inside. It's also possible that you need the flowers to bring out the chocolate flavor in the seeds. It's worth experimentation. If you try it out, let me know how it goes for you in the comments below.

Try a hot cup of Linden coffee after dinner.
Gather mature seeds. Roast at 300 degrees F until dry and brown. let cool. Grind and make as you would coffee.

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Try a hot cup of Linden coffee after dinner.
Gather mature seeds. Crack and remove outer shell. Roast at 300 degrees F until dry and brown. let cool. Grind and make as you would coffee.

If you prefer something a bit more unusual after dinner, why not try some Linden Flower Liqueur or Linden Schnapps?  A cordial is more to my taste. Here's a nice one.

That's a fair number of uses for a tree that I had previously only associated with honey and tea. Thanks for stopping by!