Honey is a unique ingredient. Technically it never goes off – edible jars of this golden elixir have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. It captures the essence of a place and the landscape it comes from. When you buy a locally produced honey, it will not be cheap but it will be full of the flavor of the flora the bees fed off. The philosopher Pliny wrote, “Honey comes out of the air… At early dawn the leaves of trees are found bedewed with honey… Whether this is the perspiration of the sky or a sort of saliva of the stars, or the moisture of the air purging itself, nevertheless it brings with it the great pleasure of its heavenly nature. It is always of the best quality when it is stored in the best flowers ”
oney never goes out of fashion and adapts with the trends. You can buy honey infused with a slice of black truffle that can be drizzled over cheese or grilled meats to add a sweet, musky indulgence. At this time of year the hedgerows are lined with lacy, creamy elderflowers and you can submerge one of their heads in honey. Just wash and pat a head dry, place in a clean jar and cover with slightly warmed honey. You’ll have a taste of summer throughout the year to anoint fruits, cheese or in your baking.
Hot honey is bang on trend at the moment and is perfect to drizzle over creamy cheeses, fried chicken or grilled vegetables. Something I’ve come across recently is black seed honey – hot honey combined with black onion seeds, peppercorns and toasted coriander seeds. It’s one of those things you want to add to everything and here it’s spooned over grilled pork kebabs. After you’ve rested the pork, grill some bread in the resulting juices for something magical.
Apricots from Spain and Italy are in the greengrocers now and at their best. Honey and apricots have a special affinity and here the relationship is celebrated in a creamy honey infused tart that’s topped with sweet, brandied apricots. If you use a good honey from here its scent will permeate throughout the whole dish – the perfect taste of summer.
Pork souvlaki with black seed honey
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Pork souvlaki with black seed honey
Pork souvlaki with black seed honey
What you’ll need
750g pork shoulder meat
Zest and juice 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon good quality dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Method
Slice the pork thinly and mix in with the remaining ingredients.
Marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours. Thread tightly onto 4 kebab sticks and season with salt. Place on a hot grill pan and cook on 4 sides until cooked through – about 10 minutes.
For the hot honey
200g honey
4 dried chillies, chopped
4 fresh chillies chopped
Place honey and chillies in a pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to infuse for an hour and then strain.
For the black seed honey
2 tablespoons hot honey
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons black onion seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
Toast the coriander seeds and pepper corns in a pan until they pop then crush in a mortar and pestle or between sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin.
Spoon a teaspoon over the kebabs (the rest will keep) while hot and rest for 5 minutes. Remove kebabs and toast bread in the juices.
Honey apricot tart with hazelnut crust
What you’ll need
For the hazelnut crust
100g hazelnuts
225g coarsely crushed digestives
80g melted butter
Method
Set oven to 180oc.
Toast the hazelnuts on a tray for about 4 minutes. Process with the biscuits to a fine crumb and then add the butter.
Press into the base of a tart tin with removable base and up the sides.
Chill for an hour and then bake for about 15 minutes or until just crisp. Cool.
For the filling
225g honey
500g cream cheese
150g double cream
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
For the topping
100g castor sugar
2 eggs
50ml apricot brandy or regular brandy
5 apricots
Set oven to 200oc.
Warm 100g of the honey to blood temperature then mix into the cream cheese. Beat with half the lemon juice, cream, cream cheese, sugar and zest until fluffy – about 5 minutes with an electric mixer. Add the eggs mix well.
Pour onto the crumb base and bake until the edges turn golden. Lower the heat to 120oc and cook for a further 15 minutes or until firm.
Turn off oven and allow to cool in the oven. Chill.
Heat the remaining 125g of honey in a large pan until bubbling. Add the brandy and remaining lemon juice. Cut the apricots in half and remove stone. Cut the apricots into thin slices and cook in the syrup until tender – if they’re ripe this should only take a couple of minutes. Cool.
Arrange the apricot slices over the tart and spoon over the syrup.
