BU Research Blog

Tulip bulbs can be eaten, but it is not a common source of human food. Eating tulip bulbs helped many Dutch people in the Hunger Winter, the last winter of the Second World War (1944-1945). During the German occupation the Dutch suffered from a shortage of food.  In the collection of my mother, I found a short book published in 1941 with a made-do-and-mend approach about growing your own food.  My mother died this summer at the age of 92.

The book ‘Veel groenten van weinig grond’ (in Dutch: Many vegetables from little soil) gives advice to readers on how to grown vegetables in small plots of land, gardens, etc.  This book in the first year of the occupation does not mention the use of tulips as food. Hidden in the book was a typed one-page sheet with three instruction for tulips followed by five recipes.

The main message seems to be that the preparation of the tulip bulbs as well as the taste is very much like potatoes.  For example, the recipe for tulip bulb puree includes boiling the bulbs, one packet of vanilla sugar or vanilla essence, three spoons of honey, artificial honey or syrup, mix well and add warm water.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Faculty of Health, Environment & Medical Sciences