I know I found roast dahlia tubers less than convincing, but James Wong was kind enough to supply me with a dahlia rosti recipe, so I thought it was worth giving it another go. And this time round, the Dahlias proved their worth, the rostis were delicious and so now I have to take it all back!
I used 1kg of tubers, which I thought was a lot, but once grated and as much liquid squeezed out of them as possible, made a perfect lunch for me and 3 others. We invited foodie friends Simon and Julia to sample the rostis with us, and all of us gave them the thumbs up. The rostis don’t have a very strong flavour, but what they do have is a lovely juicy, bouncy texture which works really well with the smoked salmon, dill, sour cream and onions. I don’t often dig up a kilo of dahlia roots, but I’ll know what to do with them next time if I do!
p.s. Very good point made by Deborah in comments below (and James Wong in his book), that you shouldn’t cook bought tubers as they will have been treated with pesticides and fungicides.
P.P.S Oct 2015 Lubera have now developed their own range of ‘DeliDahlias’-six Dahlia varieties that have been honed form their collection to give the best flavours, as well as gorgeous blooms. I’ve yet to taste these, but definitely worth investigating…….
Out of my shed 
Cool! What a versatile plant. My friend Huw dug up some runner bean tubers and tried eating those. He wasnt impressed. I subsequently read online that they’re poisonous but he didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects!
Hi Veronica, Yes, a surprisingly useful plant, grown originally in S. America for it’s roots alone, with flowers just a by product. I think they were introduced in Europe originally as a potential edible (similar to potatoes), but the flowers won out! Read somewhere that runner beans were originally imported for their flowers, but now mainly seen as a food crop (but with v. decorative qualities that can add height to a border if mixed in with your flowers).
I’ve cooked runner bean roots too. Made soup, runner beany flavour. No ill effects. I’ve since learnt that roots might survive overwinter in the UK, given some protection, so am trying that: should get a better bean crop. Potato beans, Apios americana, are edible: grow up canes, well away from perennials because the tubers are formed at a distance.
never heard of runner bean tubers…. all they have are tiny nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots, hardly apetizing!
Couldn’t help thinking of all the potential dahlia flowers turned into rosti!
Should warn people not to cook bought tubers as they will have been treated with nasty chemicals i.e.fungicide/pesticides
Hi Deborah, Thanks for reminders about not eating bought tubers. Will add it to the post. Clare Brown @plantpassion also made the point about tubers far too expensive to cook on twitter, but James Wong countered this by pointing out that you can take a few tubers from a dug up plant to cook, and still use the original tubers for growing the following year. Must say, I don’t plan on growing tubers just to cook, but this was a lovely and very seasonal treat, with tubers otherwise destined for the compost bin!
They look yummy! I’ve been meaning to try James Wong’s Saffron Martinis as well, they had some on the Suttons stand at this year’s GLEE but I missed it by minutes because I had to catch the train. Anyway, I love this kind of thing. I’m hoping for James’s cook book for Christmas, I had a flick through and it looks amazing!
Hi Naomi, Yes, if you fancy being more experimental in the garden (and the kitchen) James Wong’s book is certainly the book for you!
Yes I wondered if you could save a bit of the tuber for flowers next year.and I am glad you say you can.
Hi Sue, When ordering tubers, you usually get sent out a bud with 2 or 3 tubers or just a cutting, and both should flower that year, so if you dig up a large clump of tubers, they’ll be plenty extra for eating.
Amazing!
Hi Andrew, Yes, amazing and delicious! Got any Dahlias to dig up? Worth having a try.
Hi Naomi, Just wondering why you’d dig up dahlias to chuck on the compost? (If you weren’t going to eat them, that is.) I haven’t grown them before but am hoping to create an ornamental border in the gardens; would be excellent if any ornamentals were also edible!
You must be a much better cook than I am, as I tried them once and thought they were awful! Like potatoes, I’ve read that the taste differs between varieties. Some varieties are also quite prolific tuber makers whereas others hardly give much at all.
I’ve also read that the main difference is dahlias store inulin not starch in their tubers, so are really quite different to potatoes.
Have you tried dahlia petals in salads? I’ve read on some websites that above ground parts are poisonous, but hard to know quite what to believe on the web!
Hi Andy, Yes, the tubers are quite different to potatoes, much more watery, and after grating and squeezing out as much liquid as I could, they did reduce in size a fair bit. I just followed James Wong’s recipe (in Homegrown Revolution) and I think the bouncy texture was the best bit about the rostis, as the taste is fairly bland-hence working well with the smoked Salmon. He suggest good tasting varieties are yellow flowered cactus types such as ‘Lemon Chiffon’, ‘Amhusrt Regina’ and ‘Inland Dynasty’. I like the sound of eating inulin (as opposed to startch!), but I’m not sure if the petals are edible or not. Worth tweeting to see if anyone knows? V.best Naomi
[…] p.s. Are Dahlia tubers worth eating? […]
Have you had any more dahlia eating adventures? I’m growing them myself this year – the varieties Lubera have selected for eating, so it will be interesting to see how our experiences compare!
Hi Emma, not eaten any for the last year or so. Do let me know how you get on. Which dahlias are they?
I’ve got one each of the six ‘DeliDahlia’ varieties from Lubera: http://www.lubera.co.uk/search?sSearch=delidahlia. Each one is supposed to taste slightly different.