The sweet violet (Viola odorata) offers a classic violet flower. Its name announces a fragrance without false promises, the sweet and powerful scent invites a gourmet reverie. Its sweet flower has something fruity while keeping a floral aroma, perhaps what the cornflower would taste like if it were a flower. The rosette leaves, with a tender and green heart at ground level, with their sweet flavor can be added raw to salads, in quantity! The mucilage they contain can also thicken soups or stews. They are picked at any time of the year, rich in vitamin C, green even under the snow. Many consider it to be the quintessence of floral essences, thanks to the farmers of the South of France who strive to preserve this jewel of rustic gastronomy. Famous in confectionery, it is crystallized in sugar and the famous violet candies are made. We imagine it everywhere in pastries, in sorbets and ice creams, infused in honey or syrup, propelling a jam towards the celestial.

Its heady scent is so strong that it lets itself be carried by the wind, and reaches our nostrils by surprise, traveling several meters away! The early flowering announces spring and perfumes the air shortly after the snow melts. In the presence of a mild autumn, it is not uncommon to see it bloom late, just before the snow, like a gift that we no longer expected.

A herbal tea of ​​leaves and flowers helps to counter nervousness, stress and insomnia. It can also lower fever and its mucilage helps to overcome a bad cough. Fast growing, the sweet violet adapts to almost everywhere. Considered an aphrodisiac since the Middle Ages, its flowers, in pillows or even on them, with their sensual scents, predispose to the delicacies of love… Expansive with its stolons and seeds.