Burlap & Barrel's Desert Hibiscus is zingy, fruity, vibrant and tart and is at home in sweet and savory dishes alike. This finely milled, easy-to-use powder brings the gorgeous magenta color and bright, mildly astringent tartness of hibiscus to all sorts of baked goods, drinks, infusions and even rubs for meat and vegetables.
Hibiscus is one of the world's most beloved ingredients, used in virtually every tropical cuisine, and Fayoum, Egypt, has been a center for the cultivation of spices for thousands of years. The calyxes of the hibiscus flower have been used to make tart, pink drinks for as long as anyone can remember.
Hibiscus is an edible bright red flower that grows from plants that grow to 3-6 feet in height. Once harvested, the flowers are laid out to dry under the desert sun for up to three days. It's perfect in a simple syrup, stirred into muffin batter or strawberry pie, or as a tropical-tasting substitution for sumac in savory dishes. Just a shake of this brilliant powder brings brightness and lightness to everything it touches!
Origin:
Fayoum Oasis, Egypt
Aliases:
Sorrel, flor de Jamaica
Process:
Sun-dried, then ground
Ingredients:
Hibiscus flower petals (Hibiscus sabdariffa)
Tasting notes:
Pomegranate • Rose Hips • Lambrusco
SOURCING
Burlap & Barrel's Desert Hibiscus is grown by an extended family of farmers in an ancient agricultural community in central Egypt, on the Nile River floodplain, where spices have been cultivated for many, many years.
They connected with the farmers through partnership with Zaid of Norwich Meadows Farm. Every year, Zaid works with a crew of highly skilled Egyptian farmers who come to his farm in upstate New York to grow organic vegetables using a specific system of high tunnels and intercropping. The vegetables that Zaid grows with this group of farmers are stunning, and these same farmers have their own farms in Egypt, where they grow ancient varietals of desert-adapted spices that rely on seasonal flooding from the Nile River as the primary source of water. Their farms are the source of this and B&B's other Egyptian spices.