2006-8-01 2:44pm
I first fell in love with lavender honey while on my honeymoon in Provence. My husband and I were dining in a small restaurant in Moustier Ste. Marie and I had ordered a chicken dish which was sweetened by lavender honey. It was perfect. In addition to the lavender honey, buds of lavender were visible in the herb mixture which dressed the skin. The taste of lavender was pronounced, yet perfectly balanced.
That meal inspired my love affair with culinary lavender and lavender honey, it made me want to experiment and find even more spectacular flavors. Since then I make an effort to sample every jar within reach from les producteurs de miel lavande of Provence. While all are similar, apart from the varying ranges of taste and texture, no two are really the same. Some are sweeter, others more floral, deeper in flavor or denser in texture. There are heat extracted varieties and cold extracted varieties. Personally I always seek out cold extracted varieties, as the heat extraction alters the properties of the honey and near eliminates the nutritional value. This said however, our American customers do seem to like the heat extracted liquid varieties. I think this is because of the types of honey many Americans were raised on (thinking of the squeezable honey bear seen in many American pantries).
I am very excited about a new lavender honey that we are working to import and distribute from Les Ruchers du Mont Ventoux (pictured). It is a delicious, medium bodied honey from Vaison la Romaine in Provence. We intend to carry multiple varieties of this producer's honey in addition to the lavender. Among the varieties you will soon be able to find: chestnut, rosemary, forest, Provence flower and Cevennes in 250 gram (8.8 oz) and 500 gram sizes (17.6oz). In addition to the great flavors, Les Ruchers du Mont Ventoux honeys offer lovely Provencal labels and lids. These will make excellent items for the pantry and gifts. We already have plans for honey samplers and plan to wholesale these honeys as well.
There is a wonderful confection that is derived of Lavender honey that is known as Boules de Miel. These round hard candies have soft lavender honey centers. They can easily be summed up with one adjective... divine. We carried a variety of Boules de Miel a while back and the price increased so much that we became weary of offering them to customers. Les Ruchers du Mont Ventoux produces this wonderful confection along with Pastilles de Miel which are hard candies made from honey (no soft center). Honey confections are terrific for multiple reasons. In my experience, they offer a nice sweet treat without going over board, are wonderful for soothing sore throats and can be used to sweeten tea by dropping one or two in a cup just as you would use a sugar cube. I eagerly await their arrival from France.
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