2006-10-13 7:46pm
 Photo courtesy of National Honey Board
What is it about honey that captivates us so?
As the founder of Splendid Palate I have often been intrigued by the mysteries of bees and the delectable golden gift they produce. This is why gourmet honey has always been a staple on our shelves. I've chosen it as the topic to launch our new gourmet email series. Bi-weekly we will be offering up recipes and brief articles related to various gourmet intrigues. I hope you will enjoy these tid bits; if you do, please pass along to a friend.
Honey is one of the first foods utilized by mankind for nutrition and energy. Scientists estimate that it has been eaten for up to 3 million years, though the history of the bee dates back as long as 50 million years and corresponds to the beginning of the first primates in Africa. Beyond its sweetness honey provides a great source of energy and nutrition. It contains natural sugars, mostly fructose and glucose which are easily absorbed into the bloodstream as well as minerals, trace elements, amino acids, enzymes and lysozymes (a natural antibiotic capable of breaking down cell walls of bacteria) that all work to strengthen the health system. These components are found in honeys that are extracted naturally, often referred to as "cold extracted" or "raw". The extraction takes place with minimal heating as temperatures above 120 degrees alter the nutritional properties.
While honey may seem more commonplace nowadays, production is far from a simple process. It takes up to 500,000 journeys to a flower for bees to collect enough nectar to create a single liter of honey. Bees favor a single variety of honey and will travel several miles within their environment to feed off the same type of flower continuously. They transport pollen from one flower to another thus fertilizing and pollinating the plants at the same time as dining. The life span of a bee is relatively short and can be counted in distance of flight. A bee can travel approximately 500 miles prior to his wings becoming tattered and useless, ending the ability to fly and thus maintain a life. For bees actively collecting nectar, this amount of flight often doesn't last for more than two months during a summer season.
The finest honeys are monovarietal (single variety) honeys, produced by bees that have fed on wild flowers or fields that have not been exposed to extensive amounts of pesticides, fertilizers and pollutants from commercial areas. This is why the honeys procured from small country towns of France and Italy tend to offer an exceptionally pure flavor. The taste is immediately related to the elements of the flower, of the soil and all factors impacting its quality. The nectar that bees collect is 75% water and as many know, the taste of water is reflective of the source, the same can be said of honey. Bee keepers actively record the flowering seasons of flowers and plants in their area, utilizing their notes as a reference for when to harvest honey. Knowing that the bees will feed from a particular flower during one time over another, harvesting between the flowering times enables the collection of a monovarietal honey (single variety). Many of the smaller gourmet bee keepers will transport their hives to the isolated fields of neighbors and families, thus ensuring a quality product from beginning to end. Honey is traditionally harvested from May to July.
A Great Fall Recipe:
This recipe is more of a general gourmet idea which is derived from a Mohawk Indian tradition known as "Ogwissiman". The Mohawk tribe's presence is well documented in our area of New England.
Small pumpkins were cleaned of their seeds and then stuffed with honey, apple, cider and butter and baked in the embers of their fires. We think this would make a delectable fall dessert and encourage experimentation! Please share your thoughts and successes with us. Subscribe to Splendid Palate's gourmet email list to receive more articles like this one... and special savings.
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