Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Amazing Delights of Honey

Pure Honey

Honey is a famous food that people know of as a sweet amber to rich gold flavorful fluid produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. It is a popular alternative to sugar and known to be the easiest food digested by the stomach that brings instant vitality to the human body. Aside from its being rich in carbohydrates, honey contains vitamins and antioxidants that are good to the body.

History & Production of Pure Honey  

Honey has an antique reference dating back to the Egyptians 5,500 B.C.E., although bees were already making honey millions of years earlier than the evolution of the homo sapiens. Until sugar, honey was generally used in the 19th century as a major sweetener. To this time, honey has been seen as a condiment to flavor dishes. The last hundred years of experience in traditional honey-making cultivated the array of subtle-melting honey flavors made from 100% natural goodness that we see in the market now.

Choosing Honey

 The color and flavor of honey is derivative to the nectar of the flower from where it is drawn and the place where the flower grows. Honey today has plenty of great flavors coming from the tree, plant or the flower from where it originates. One of the world's voted best flavored honey is the Le Grand Miel Thousand Flower Honey By Bernard Michaud 27 Oz., a lightly scented with the essence of acacia. lavender and orange trees created in the Pyrenees region of France's premier beekeepers.

I always go for raw honeys, a tradition from my mother that brings me back to my childhood. Greek Chestnut Honey From Mount Pilio (8.8 oz jar) and  Pure Chestnut Tree Honey are examples of raw honeys with all their naturally occurring enzymes, antioxidants and nutrients preserved. Its flavor come from bees that feed freely on distinct floral resources. So, choose the ones collected by hand using traditional methods. 

Honey Delights
Honey is terrific on toasts, breads, desserts and beverages. It is a perfect baking ingredient that yields moist in baked goods, and a super drizzle over ice-cream and pancakes, or simply add to a cup of your favorite beverage.

Storing Honey
Keep honey in a well sealed container to avoid moisture and dust and store in room temperature. Do not refrigerate honey. If honey crystallizes, place the container in warm water until the crystals dissolve.