Some restaurants in Ecuador are attracting more customers with a special dish of organic edible roses. This gives farmers a chance to tap into a new market.<br /><br />Taking a moment to stop and ... taste the roses.<br /><br />The ultimate symbol of romance has become a hot gastronomic item.<br /><br />Chefs like Daniel Pillon at the popular Zazu Restaurant in Quito, Ecuador are attracting customers with novelty dishes containing organic Ecuadorian rose petals.<br /><br />[Daniel Pillon, Sous chef, Zazu Restaurant]:<br />"When you give people a plate with roses they ask, 'Can you eat them?'. Yes, but there's work behind them. The roses don't come out of vases."<br /><br />And patrons are suitably wooed.<br /><br />[Maria Jose Torres, Customer]:<br />"I've never tasted something like this before. It was great. It was strong but sweet at the same time. And you can definitely feel the rose scent."<br /><br />Ecuador's flower export market is worth 600 million U.S. dollars a year. <br /><br />But flower grower Roberto Nevado says edible roses are not yet profitable.<br /><br />Of the total number of rose plants cultivated on his farm, fewer than four percent are organic and edible.<br /><br />[Roberto Nevado, Rose Plantation Owner]:<br />"Until now it's an investment. It's not a profitable thing, but it's an investment. We think there might be a future in that."<br /><br />And with food security becoming an increasingly thorny issue, roses might in future be better appreciated by our stomachs than our hearts.
