Chefs, beekeepers hold a tasting of local honey (Today)

Tag : Natural Bee Honey

Grocery store honey is as predictable and easy to come by as sugar.But bulk-processing honey in thousand-pound batches hopelesslycommingles any "voice" of season, region or plant life.
So a lesson in not taking honey for granted is to bump into a honeypersonality, the joyous jolt of a true varietal -- once tastednever forgotten, such as elegant lavender from Provence or dark,thick honey with a recoil, such as bitter-edged buckwheat fromOhio.
In Western Pennsylvania, many flowering plants tend to bloom atonce so that capturing a single-varietal honey is really difficult.Still, careful local beekeepers sometimes get close.
"It's labor intensive," says apiarist Jennifer Wood, "but when youtaste the difference, it's worth it."
Local beekeepers such as Deron Reed Johnson of Polish Hill andMitch Markovich of Aliquippa readily capture the two "bloom"seasons: the lighter-colored spring honey made from many floralblooms and the darker fall honey from the nectar of plants such asaster and Japanese knotweed.
So at the Slow Food Pro-Am Local Honey Tasting at Farmers@FirehouseJuly 5, tasters on the pro side -- chefs and beekeepers -- sat downto a liquid diet that excited them.
Palates involved were Chef Greg Alauzen, opening the newrestaurant, Cioppino, in the Cork Factory next month; Chef BarbaraFerguson, owner of Fraiche Confections and pastry chef at Mio inAspinwall; and apiarists Christina Neumann of Apoidea Apiary andJennifer Wood of Steffes Wood Apiary. Chef Alauzen calls himself a"beekeeper in training," because he has hives on his farm in EightyFour, owned by Mitch Markovich of Bees R Us Apiary in Aliquippa.
Some wine tasting technique applies. Start with the lighter honeys.Think of "nose," especially on opening a jar, and consider color,texture and finish.
Spring
Steffes Woods Locust. Locust trees bloom here along rivers in mid-May. One of two in thetasting that come as close as Western Pennsylvania gets to purevarietals.
Ms. Wood: "We were very lucky. This was a heavy bloom and itdoesn't happen every year. The flavor is light, a littlecinnamony." Chef Alauzen: "A natural sweetness with some berries."
Bees R Us Tulip Poplar. Trees bloom in May. This honey is dark, whereas most spring honeyis pale. Flavor is complex, earthy. This is the second thatapproaches a pure varietal.
Ms. Neumann: "Musty and savory." Chef Alauzen: "Rather than musty,I'm getting earthy, more minerally." Chef Ferguson: "Dirt-earthy."Chef Derek Stevens, executive chef at Eleven who stopped by,offered a note on this one: "Looks like maple-syrup color, tastesmalty."
Bees R Us Spring Honey. A blend of clover, tulip poplar and grasses.
Chef Ferguson: "A nice complex honey. A bright profile with anumber of secondary flavors."
Summer
Stein's Apiary Summer Clover. Tasters found this bright in flavor and a bit more lemony than theBees R Us Spring Honey.
Fall
Steffe Wood Knotweed. The invasive knotweed blooms in fall along rivers and roads.Likely mixed with fall aster and goldenrod. This dusky honey is Ms.Neumann's favorite. She calls it "Guinness honey" for its robustflavor and hue. She says, "Darker honey supposedly has moreflavonoids and antioxidants."
Also getting high marks from tasters: the Deron Johnson's springand fall seasonal honeys sold at the market.
Chef Ferguson spoke for all: "I loved that you can reallydistinguish the characteristics of each of these pure raw honeys.They have not been sitting on your grocery shelf for months. Theyhave distinct flavor profiles."
It's an artisan process to get the flavor profiles in honey --"though the bees are the true artisans," Ms. Neumann reminds us.
Sources
• Apoidea Apiary, Shaler. Christina Neumann. Seasonal honey, gift-packagedherb-infused honeys. 530-370-5585; cjoyneu@earthlink.net
• BEES-R-US Apiaries, Aliquippa. Mitch Markovitch. Honey, comb, chunk comb honey,beeswax products, honey candy. 724-857-0909; beesrus.net @bees-r-us-apiaries.com
• J and B Apiary, Polish Hill. Deron Reed Johnson and Charles K. Brown. Spring andfall honeys, beeswax soaps, lip balm. deronreedjohnson@gmail.com
• Steffes Wood Apiary of Aliquippa. Robert Steffes and Jennifer Wood. 724-378-7204 or beehappyhoney@gmail.com
• Stein Apiary of Shaler. Jim Stein. 412-781-3467 or jpstein@verizon.net .