I feel like I just received a college education in honey. Last week I attended the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) conference in Portland, Ore., and at one learning station, we tasted honey. While there are more than 300 varieties of honey, we honed in on five, imagining what they work well in. I’ll share my notes and observations with you. Pretend you are sitting at the table with me—and the pictured display is in front of you. I should tell you that our teacher is Marie Simmons, who wrote the book “Taste of Honey: The Definitive Guide to Tasting and Cooking with 40 Varietals” just released in June.
1. Orange blossom honey: It’s pretty generic, with a fruity flavor if you close your eyes and imagine. It’s a common table honey and works well on ice cream, in cheese cake and especially as the variety to use in marinades, salad dressings and poultry glazes. Imagine it with vanilla in anything baked. You can’t imagine? I can. Trust me.
2. Clover honey: Is there any type more plentiful than clover honey? It’s a major crop yielding a sweet, mild honey. Since it’s probably the most versatile and widely available type, let’s not go any deeper into that one.
3. Wildflower honey: “Wildflower” is code for “these bees have been all over the neighborhood. We don’t know what all they ate.” It probably varies the most in color and flavor, and it’s also versatile in its uses, but for our workshop, Marie gushed about the use of this particular variety drizzled in a parfait and paired with pineapple and/or oranges. I wasn’t going to argue. I was just getting the hang of discerning the different flavors. I glanced down at the next cup of honey.
4. Buckwheat honey: Oh my gosh, look how dark it is? Just think “molasses” and you have the flavor of buckwheat honey. That, my friends, is not a table honey. It goes in “hearty baked goods,” and is probably the best suited for barbecue sauces, if you want to add sweetness. It’s fall right now—the most appropriate time for a flavor like this when combined with squash, pumpkin muffins or spice cake. The stout flavor would keep up with blue cheese.
5. This is “mystery varietal.” That is, we had to taste it and decide what kind it was. Someone guessed it. Blackberry honey. I was less discerning and didn’t get that same impression. I don’t think it’s that common, and the flavor isn’t that different than the others.
If you are at all intrigued, here’s a link to Marie’s book: http://amzn.to/19yOcdl. Also, for you connoisseurs, visit www.honeylocator.com and click on the flower source you’re interested in, and the site will let you know what suppliers carry that kind of honey. It’s a great website.
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