Come this time of year everyone starts crabbing about pollen – it’s everywhere – on your car, blowing in the wind and windows, up your nose and making a lot of people miserable with sneezing, headaches and bloodshot eyes. But, I love the season of Pollen – it is indeed the beginning of my year and the short few months of bliss occurring wherever I plant my toes. The really intense phase only lasts about a week or so – usually right around Mother’s Day here in our area of New Jersey.
Apiary – from the Latin, apiarium, from apis, bee ; apiarists or apiculturists, 17th century origin; referenced as a “mystery” word. Well, anyway, I am no educated apiarist, but I find the subject of bees, the pollinators and their mysterious and sublime output, honey to be a subject of great fascination.
The older I get the more I become enthralled with the wonders of nature (I am starting with learning about those in my lifetime) and, once again I realize, how what I really know about the world would fit on the head of a pin. That would be one tiny pin. And so, I’m off again, inspired by the succession of events, which most recently began when I visited the Newport Food and Wine Festival last Fall and tasted the sunflower honey or Girasole Honey from Tuscany and started daydreaming……. That was, as you know, followed up with my lucky selection of the Wild Heather Honey from Wales when I was lurking, daily, around Fortnum and Mason in London in January.
On Thursday, I began reading the May/June issue of Cucina Italiana and immediately skipped over all earlier pages and went directly to the story on page 52, The Traveling Bee Charmer and His Magical Honey – all about Andrea Paternoster and his caressing and devoted transport of bees around Italy in order to allow the production of, essentially, mono-floral honeys . Wow, is all I can say, and thanks to this person – with this degree of focus, dedication and narrow, but oh-so-challenging commitment to something so amazing. His Company is called Mieli Thun and he has indeed become quite famous for his idyllic pursuits and their outcomes.
Backing up just a little, I do indeed spend a great deal of time out of doors when the temperatures are moderate and the surroundings are alive with flowers and foliage and dense with color and merriment (birds and butterflies). I relish this time of year and wherever I go I rejoice in the crescendo of the earth’s offerings. I know that sounds a little corny, but honestly, whenever I step somewhere where nature’s gifts are exploding and honoring our space, I have an instantaneous uplift and sort of giddy response, in every cell of my being. Sorry, if that is “tmi” as Ryan would say, but it is dammed well the truth. (of course, I have the exact opposite reaction when the world goes cold and dead – but we won’t go there – it is April and I am just revving up my happiness quotient).
Anyway, back to the bees. Monday is Earth Day 2013. It is a day to consider how far we have to go to protect our environment and try to participate in the critical effort of cleaning up the mess we have made, a lot of which has occurred in our lifetime. The efforts to move back to sustainable, organic and small plot farming are helping, especially in certain areas of the country, but we need to learn more about how to sustain the food supply but not destroy the environment upon which we are all dependent in the process. This is a very complex and politically charged subject.
According to some sources, bees are responsible for over $14 billion of agricultural output, just in the US, and for certain crops like cherries and blueberries, for 90% of their production. Many crops are incredibly dependent on bee pollination. Almonds are another of these. And so, truly, where would we “BEE” without these industrious and singly-focused creatures? And, as we all know, they are under siege. Is there any more hard-working and undervalued species in the world? Why is it so hard to get people interested in this problem, especially the EPA?
There is now a great deal of literature out there about Colony Collapse Disorder and the affect on the bee population and agriculture. This is a scary subject that we all should be aware of and try to lobby for the elimination of certain pesticides, fungicides and herbicides which are linked to this terrible affliction.
I began this post yesterday and coincidentally, first thing this morning I found this post by Bill Moyers and Bill McKibben:
http://billmoyers.com/segment/%E2%80%9Cdance-of-the-honey-bee%E2%80%9D/
It is definitely worth learning about this problem and trying to do our part to help heal the bee population, no matter how small our effort might be (bee). There are lots of organizations dedicated to learning about and reversing this huge problem and I encourage everyone to write a letter and lobby the EPA. We can all do our part by becoming more green in our gardening pursuits and, well, let those dandelions go ahead and grow.
According to this particular post, nearly 1/4 of the American diet, not to mention our flowers and honey production, is dependent on bees.
Here are two very good articles about the growing crisis:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/bee-deaths-colony-collapse_n_2979959.html
And, a report from the EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/intheworks/honeybee.htm
Those wonderful bees provide us with such a plethora of gifts for use in the kitchen:
Those of you who read this blog on an on-going basis know I have been searching for the recipe for the Honey Loaf, baked at the Charleston Garden bakery at B. Altman and Co, circa 1960-70 (that’s not a typo) and with which I was obsessed in my teens. There were many weekends when I visited this bakery and carefully guarded my little white bag on the way home, all the while nibbling the crunchy, honey-crusted lobes of this loaf. I have searched high and low and begged and pleaded for a source for this recipe. In all efforts, the trail has run dry. I even found a woman working at Bloomingdales in Short Hills who worked at B. Altman and knew the baker. She said he had moved to Florida and tried to contact him for me but he may have passed away. There are websites dedicated to finding lost recipes – I’ve tried them, too. And, even B. Altman has some pages on the internet dedicated to their archives. I have combed these as well. As with my obsession with the French Pastry Shop, I will continue to pursue information about this delightful bread. I have tried to re-create it myself, but can’t get close.
Recipes featuring honey are ubiquitous. Honey “flavors” are widely varied and well-worth sampling. Color and texture varies as well. Some varieties are very seductive in their allure, and have the most “heady” of fragrance (like the Heather Honey from Wales) – see below for a good list. All are worth a try. Here are some of my recent sources for recipes with honey:
Cooking Channel: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bee-inspired-our-best-honey-recipes.html
Huff Post Taste: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/honey-recipes-chicken-ham_n_966410.html
As far as sources go:
Dean and Deluca’s Wild Raspberry Honey: http://www.deandeluca.com/pantry/honey-products/wild-raspberry-honey.aspx
And, you know, two of my favorites:
And, here’s a goodie:
recipe and image courtesy Gourmet and Epicurious:
Raspberry Crème Frache Tart with Lavender Honey
For crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
For filling:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup crème frache
3 1/2 tablespoons lavender honey
4 cups raspberries (18 ounces)
Special equipment: a 9-inch fluted round tart pan (1 inch deep) with a removable bottom; heavy-duty foil; pie weights or raw rice
Accompaniment: warm lavender honey
Make crust:
Pulse together all crust ingredients in a food processor just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put tart pan on a baking sheet and press dough evenly onto bottom and up side of tart pan with your fingertips. Chill shell, covered, on baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line shell with a buttered sheet of heavy-duty foil (buttered side down) and fill shell one third of the way up with pie weights.
Bake (on sheet) until edge is pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and foil, then bake until edge and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack.
Make filling:
Beat cream cheese in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until smooth, then add crème frache and 1 1/2 tablespoons honey and beat until combined well. Spread filling evenly in shell, then top with raspberries. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons honey in a very small saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until liquefied, then drizzle over raspberries. Serve with additional melted honey on the side.
Cooks’ Notes:
· Tart shell can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then kept (in pan), wrapped in plastic wrap, at cool room temperature.
· Filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to cool room temperature before assembling tart, 1 hour.
Gourmet
August 2006
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Also, one of my all time favorite appetizer inventions:
Fresh Peaches with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey – the short of it: cut the best fresh peaches into wedges, place a dollop of goat cheese on each, drizzle with your favorite honey and top with a grind of black pepper! Love, love love……
And, most importantly – here is some info on where to donate to help eradicate Colony Collapse Disorder. Please help!
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-disorder-55090702
Here is a good list of varietals:
http://www.honey.com/honey-at-home/learn-about-honey/honey-varietals/
From the Whole Foods collection:
And, finally, I am going off in pursuit of honey festivals to attend. Just maybe I’ll find a couple to go to soon. I am off to NYC today. Hopefully the sun will come out and warm things up a bit.
Wishing you a “bee”utiful day !!!! – and watch some of the great shows on the CREATE channel today – featuring Living Green.
blowin in the wind – E. 8th St. NYC
Sounds delicious! Hope NYC was fun!xo