Honey

[Sandra Levine]

That reminds me of an hors d'doeuvre I used to make. Chop of the tips of small chicken wings and freeze for the stock pot. Separate the rest of the wing into its two components -- the "drumstick-let" and the "wing-let." Marinate in a mixture of honey, soy sauce, garlic and a little Tabasco for a while and broil. Haven't thought about this in years. Sounds impossibly sweet to me now, but everyone used to love them.

Edited December 10, 2002 by Sandra Levine (log)

[Nick]

One I particularly like is the Buckwheat honey. It is dark in color and has a distinct molasses flavor.

I used to have a couple of hives of bees, and if you should think of getting some yourself - don't go into the hives after the bees have been shut off from the buckwheat by a sudden rain. They are not happy.

Personally, I don't care for buckwheat honey anyhow. Plain old wildflower honey suits me. And raspberry comes to mind. And, of course, orange blossom - though it's the smell more than the taste. Takes me back to the years of my youth when we wintered in FL and the smell of the orange blossoms.

Edited December 10, 2002 by Nickn (log)

[Adam Balic]

I have a terrible habit of buying honey where ever I go.

Currently I have:

Tuscan Chestnut flower honey: dark and bitter, good with salty blue cheese.

Some Greek honey made my monks on some autonomously ruled mountain state: Nice for breakfast.

Provencal lavender honey for an island off the coast from Cassis: Nice waxy/lavender flavour

American Desert flower honey: tastes similar to:

Australian yellow flowering gum honey: tastes of caramel and toffee.

Tuscan flowers of the forest (spring) and (autumn) honeys: both very fresh and fragrant, similar to clover honey, which makes me think that they have a high proportion of acacia.

Greek orange flower honey: Tastes of, well, orange water.

And my favourite:

Scottish Heather honey: Rich and heady, my perfect honey.

However, I have read of an Persian honey, made from the nectar collected from opium poppy fields. Very trippy apparently and its name translates roughly as "Honey of Madness". I want some.

Edited December 10, 2002 by Adam Balic (log)

[Suvir Saran]

I have a terrible habit of buying honey where ever I go.

Not a bad habit.

And I am amazed at your collection.. and also jealous.

What would your favorite 5 be out of that list of honeys you shared?

[Adam Balic]

Suvir - all these honeys are good, so it is difficult to rank them. The most important thing is that honey isn't refined, processed or adultered with glucose syrup etc.

My uncles had bee hives and we would occasional raid wild hives to steal their queens. In doing this we also got large amounts of honey comb containing honey and a sort of thickened pre-honey stage nectar/bee vomit, it was lovely to eat this super sweet nectar while crunching up the comb as well. This was a great experience, but a difficult thing to give to others.

So tasting honey is like that, some a good for some purposes, but not others. I would never eat Chestnut honey with a toasted bagel and fresh ricotta for my breakfast, as it is far too bitter and tannic (?). But, eaten with some salty blue cheese, perfect. I have been told that this honey eaten with blue cheese and white truffle shavings is very good, will have to to this one day.

Having said this I prefer Heather Honey bought from my local butcher, here in Edinburgh, above all others. It could be the location, but the flavours are very rich and complex and stand up to cooking (this honey combines very well with ricotta and is lovely used as a filling for crepes).

[Ron Johnson]

Seriously, speaking of Tupelo Honey, anybody see the movie???

Ulee's Gold???

A fine fine film Jaymes. One of my favorites.

[Rhea_S]

A friend gave me lychee honey and a Thai wildflower honey last year. The labels are in Thai, so I'm not sure about the wildflower honey. The lychee honey was mild in taste and smelled wonderful. I used that up very quickly. The wildflower honey also smells great but it has too strong of a floral flavour. I still have half a jar left. Other honeys I currently have in my cupboard are orange blossom (my favourite) and local alfalfa and clover honeys.

[Jaymes]

At Christmastime, a favorite "company" dessert is a wedge of Stilton drizzled with honey and walnuts.

OMG - is that good.

PS - Ron - Happy someone else liked that movie as well as I. Really gave the whole "bee keeping" thing more meaning to me.

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir - all these honeys are good, so it is difficult to rank them. The most important thing is that honey isn't refined, processed or adultered with glucose syrup etc.

My uncles had bee hives and we would occasional raid wild hives to steal their queens. In doing this we also got large amounts of honey comb containing honey and a sort of thickened pre-honey stage nectar/bee vomit, it was lovely to eat this super sweet nectar while crunching up the comb as well. This was a great experience, but a difficult thing to give to others.

So tasting honey is like that, some a good for some purposes, but not others. I would never eat Chestnut honey with a toasted bagel and fresh ricotta for my breakfast, as it is far too bitter and tannic (?). But, eaten with some salty blue cheese, perfect. I have been told that this honey eaten with blue cheese and white truffle shavings is very good, will have to to this one day.

Having said this I prefer Heather Honey bought from my local butcher, here in Edinburgh, above all others. It could be the location, but the flavours are very rich and complex and stand up to cooking (this honey combines very well with ricotta and is lovely used as a filling for crepes).

Thanks again for a wonderful post.

Tell me one thing.. what do you do with the comb? What can one do? What is their traditional use?

[Jim Dixon]

We're doing a new olive oil dinnner this Sunday (details on Pac NW board), and one of the courses will be pecorino with honey and olive oil. Cathy Whims (chef/owner of Genoa) said she'd heard about it, so we've been experimenting.

Last night I mixed some local clover honey with the new oil (from Umbria) about 3 parts honey to 1 oil. It takes a bit of mixing to get a crude emulsion. Then I drizzled it over some manchego (just happened to have it) and some young pecorino Sardo.

I've eaten plain honey with pecorino before, and it's good, but I like this even more. The olive oil cuts the sweetness just enough and, especially with this assertively flavored oil, adds another element.

Jim

[Ron Johnson]

Humboldt Fog cheese, figs, honey, and rosemary. Just a great combination of flavors.

[Adam Balic]

Thanks  again for a wonderful post.

Tell me one thing.. what do you do with the comb?  What can one do?  What is their traditional use?

Suvir - you eat the comb. Crunch, crunch. Even in the USA they must sell jars of honey with a piece of comb inside?

More tradionally, after extracting the honey you could render down the wax of the comb and use it to make more bases for bees to biuld their conb upon or make it into caddles and such.

edit: Hehehe, so many spelling mistakes.

Edited December 11, 2002 by Adam Balic (log)

[nyfirepatrolchef]

Honey is one of the sweeteners Im allowed to use...and I love the stuff.

YES! God bless Tasmanian Leatherwood...and Sahadis for introducing me to it...and Buckwheat...and so many other great variations.

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks  again for a wonderful post.

Tell me one thing.. what do you do with the comb?  What can one do?  What is their traditional use?

Suvir - you eat the comb. Crunch, crunch. Even in the USA they must sell jars of honey with a piece of comb inside?

More tradionally, after extracting the honey you could render down the wax of the comb and use it to make more bases for bees to biuld their conb upon or make it into caddles and such.

That is what I have done... eat it crunch, crunch. Wondered if there was more ceremony to the enjoyment of comb.

Yes, we do find jars of honey with the comb in.

Thanks for all your Honey information. Enlightening for me.

[elizabethnathan]

This is my favorite source for honey:

http://www.marshallshoney.com/

They produce great varietals like "CIA Herb Garden" and "Buzzerkeley"

[Peter B Wolf]

It pays to still have friends or family in the European Lands. One friend of mine travels to the Provence from Germany every year. I always get half a dozen jars of Honey thru him. His source is Roland Jacqueson in Rougon. The choices "Provence Montagne", "Miel de Chataignier", "Romarin", "Thym". Then I get Honey from New Sealand, where the bees get their nectar from a bush with reddish flowers, the Manuka bush. Also a Honey from the Otago montain range of the southern Newsealand island.

A strong flavored "Tannen Honig" (Pine) from Germany is fantastic on Oatmeal (mentioned on another thread). Some of this stuff cost me more shipping than product. But oh, what a life - and so little of it.

[jaybee]

Yesterday for dessert at Lupa we ordered the cheese tray. One of the itms I particularly wanted was ricotta cheese with honey. The honey was Irish wild flower, and it was superb in combination with the ricotta. In fact, it was the best dessert in the lot. I think if one added some heat, in the form of red pepper flakes it would be even better.

[Toby]

Did they serve it with the honey dribbled over the ricotta, or mixed in with it?

[jaybee]

dribbled over the top.

[helenas]

Recently i made the sauce for polenta using Hubert Keller's recipe from F&W.

It calls for a teaspoon of honey and i used hugel garrigues honey . The result was just incredible. I think it was the first time in my life i produced something with such complex flavor; i was really proud of myself!

[Sabra_1]

if you ever get the chance try manuka honey from New Zealand, it is delicious

[Adam Balic]

Havew spent several days in chianti eating new season chestnut honey with pecorino cheese. Chestnut honey is highly aromatic, but rather tannic and bitter as well. However, if you dip a piece of Pecorino into it, the cheee flavour combines very well with the honey.

[helenas]

Tried some Lavender honey from restaurant Lulu gourmet line: what a disappointment. Very simple and tastes like corn syrup flavored with lavender essense. I better stick with Hugel lavender honey (avaulable from chefshop.com)

[KatieLoeb]

I have a jar of truffle honey that was gifted to me by another foodie friend. Any bright ideas on what to do with it? I was thinking maybe brushing a bit on grilled lamb chops and then finishing the grilling. Or perhaps with foie gras? I don't dare open it until I know what to do with it!

[msp]

White truffle honey is surely the nector of gods and goddesses.

Drizzle it over yogurt or lightly toasted brioche; pour it lavishly over cream cheese and serve it with a basket of your best breads and a plate of perfect fruit; feed it in tiny spoonfuls (or on your fingertips) to your very best friend.