Considering Culinary Use of Lavender: Sensory and Cultural Factors

Lavender is a Mediterranean herb that is used relatively infrequently in the kitchen compared to other Mediterranean herbs, despite growing interest in its culinary applications. The question to be addressed in this narrative historical review is why that should be so. Several alternative hypotheses (historical, chemical, perceptual, psychological, physiological, and antimicrobial) are outlined and critically evaluated. Ultimately, it is suggested that lavender’s longstanding use as an anxiolytic (volatile) stimulus and its enduring association with fragrance, relaxation, and sleep may elicit cognitive inconsistency (or dissonance) with the notion of its use in the food and drink we consume (at least when perceptible as lavender, rather than when blending with other ingredients), while differences in antimicrobial activity, availability, and preservation appear insufficient to explain its comparatively limited culinary role. At the same time, lavender’s growing use in contemporary food and drink suggests that this association is neither fixed nor necessarily prohibitive, with culinary acceptance likely depending on context, familiarity, cultivar, concentration, and how its distinctive flavour is incorporated into food and drink.