This Flower Can Alter Your Tasting Experience, Here's How To Use It

Nasturtiums are beautiful flowers for garnishing salads, lavender is perfect for adding to cocktails, and Szechuan buttons are great for ... making your mouth feel like it's being electrocuted. Also referred to as an electric daisy, the toothache plant, or buzz button, the Szechuan button is not related to Szechuan peppercorns in any way, aside from the fact that both can give your mouth a tingling, numb feeling. The flower provides more of a mouthfeel, but it does have a slight grassy flavor. On top of the tingling sensation, your mouth starts to produce more saliva after eating the flower; which can cause you to taste flavors more intensely!

Despite the shocking feeling, this bright yellow flower is completely safe to consume. The sensation is caused by a compound in the flower and its leaves called spilanthol , which provides analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. In South America, where it is native, the flower has been consumed as a natural remedy for temporarily numbing toothaches (hence the same toothache plant) and aching joints. In the United States, Szechaun buttons are not common like other edible flowers, but it's easy enough to buy the seeds and grow them at home.

While this flower sounds borderline scary to work with in the kitchen, it's possible to make approachable drinks and dishes with it. The most common use of Szechuan buttons is in cocktails, and it's been spotted on menus at places like The Chandelier Bar (in The Cosmopolitan hotel) in Las Vegas. Rather than giving the cocktail a flavor, the flower gives your mouth a cooling sensation that changes the experience of drinking the beverage while altering other flavors. 

Often, bartenders will simply garnish a cocktail with the flower — that way you're in control of the experience and how much tingling occurs. This follows the cocktail tip of garnishing the drink with its ingredients. The flower can also blended into cocktails so each sip has an intense cooling sensation and effervescent mouthfeel. In cocktails, this tingling sensation pairs well with bright flavors like citrus and mint, or it can be used to heighten something spicy like ginger. 

When it comes to food, the Szechuan button is an interesting element to incorporate into desserts, like sorbets, or anything with a fruity element to further elevate fresh flavors. The flower can be shredded and sprinkled atop salads or raw vegetable dishes as a surprising garnish. Instead of wasabi, dip sushi into soy sauce that has been infused with pieces of the flower. Dishes that take well to a spicy condiment or topping would be a good candidate for Szechuan button: Think pizza, noodles, and seafood dishes.