Flor de Izote

This probably won’t turn into a food blog but, with so much time spent just feeding myself, expect to hear about my culinary habits on occasion!  Today I had an extraordinary opportunity to eat a flower that only blooms once a year.

The Flor de Izote grows high up in a tree, much like bananas. Imagine a single enormous bunch of grapes, with each grape covered in delicate white petals, and you’ve got the Flor de Izote. The center of the bunch is bitter, but the petals are beautiful, fleshy and edible.

It takes years of maturing for the Flor de Izote to bear fruit, and even when it does, its flowers only come once per year. At this time, a great clump of giant “snow drop” looking flowers burst forth. 

Yesterday, I harvested the Flor de Izote on my property (with help). The biggest surprise to me was how much it weighed. I was just barely able to stay standing for this photo while carrying the 30 plus pounds of flowers into the house!

To prepare it, I plucked each flower off the bunch individually and pulled the petals off of the pistil. 

When I had filled up a whole pot, I poured in boiling water and let it cook down. 

The next morning, I prepared it, as instructed, with onions, tomatoes, garlic and scrambled eggs. 

Honestly, it tasted like … nothing, but in a good way. Flor de Izote is high in Vitamin C and calcium. It was a unique and healthy meal, even if it was subtle.

During my first week here, the land shared with me something so special that it can only be harvested and eaten once in a year! It seems so easy to find things for which to be grateful, even though I have many reasons for gratitude everywhere I am. Nature reminds me of the uniqueness of every living thing. Every flower blossoms in its season. The fruits and plants have their own distinct timing.

Pulling the petals from the pistils, I thought about how futile it would be to rush the Flor de Isote to flower. It blossoms in its own time, once per year, with or without my anticipation, with or without my anxiety or encouragement. When hearing about a friend’s problems, how often have I given my opinion and not had the patience to let my friend come to a similar insight in her own time? Even with myself, how often have I been anxious to see changes over night, instead of in real time – such as starting a job and being frustrated that I’m not the seasoned veteran I want to be by week three?

I can control myself, through the books I read, the time I spend meditating and the people with whom I surround myself; and even then, progress takes time and patience. The most important people in my life are like this Flor de Izote. They are evolving and flowering in their own time. Am I not better served to appreciate a growing bunch while on the vine, than to hurt my heart waiting for it to flower months in advance?

Today, I will practice expectantly awaiting that special occasion when, once a year, I will be able to enjoy the Flor de Izote’s delicate petals in my hands.