Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my series on Biblical foods. My focus this week has been on honey, which appears more than 60 times throughout the Bible.
Honey is often used to symbolize God’s steadfast grace and providence to the faithful:
But Israel I would feed with the finest wheat* and satisfy him with honey from the rock. Psalm 81:16
Honey also represents prosperity as in the Promised Land “flowing with milk and honey.”
Honey may also represent immortality, as honey is touted as having an unlimited shelf life.
This week, I have featured a wonderful cake made with honey and olive oil:
A honey and lime dressing for fruit salads:
And a glaze for butternut squash:
Today, I’m highlighting honey in a bourbon-honey sauce that is terrific on salmon, as well as pork chops:
I’ve had a lot of fun sharing what I’ve learned about honey, it’s history and lore. I even learned that there’s a honey underground where the practice of “honey laundering” is big criminal business!
My final thoughts on honey this week are about raw vs. organic honey and buying local.
A lot of us buy our fruits and vegetables from our local farmer’s markets, where there are ample opportunities to buy organic produce. The nutrients in organic produce are not any different from that of their non-organic cousins, but since I think pesticides, in general, are not particularly good for us, I do try to buy organic whenever it makes sense. Above all, I prefer to support my local small farmers. Most of them do maintain organic practices, but more importantly (at least to me), they are local and don’t have to ship their produce halfway around the world so I can have it on my dinner table.
When buying honey, it is important to look for the words “raw and unfiltered,” as they indicate that the product still retains the bee pollen and the good polyphenols that provide anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can all be diminished by heat or chemicals. Obviously, organic honey would be beneficial in preserving those good polyphenols. There is one problem with organic honey, though–and that is that honey is made by bees that buzz far and wide foraging for nectar with which to make their honey. It’s very hard to make sure that a honey bee doesn’t manage to get a snootful of nectar from a flower that has been exposed to pesticide. The US has stringent guidelines for honey to be called “organic”–they include making sure that hives are located at least 3 kilometers from a pesticide source and that the beekeeper avoids using any non-organic honey, sugars or antibiotics in their hives–and of course, no pesticides. This would require a lot of land–a lot of land that sometimes beekeepers don’t have in a more urban setting, such as the Bay Area.
Now folks–there are organic honeys out there–and you can find them in the grocery store–but, at least for me, they all have to travel hundreds of miles from my home to land on the grocery store shelves. So…what’s the point? To me, buying an organic honey that has to travel hundred of miles harms the environment more than it is beneficial to my health. My advice? buy local. Every state in the US produces honey. Obviously, some states produce more than others. But the local stuff is worth seeking out–and trust me–you can find it in your local grocery store and there’s almost always a farmer selling honey at your local farmer’s market. Yes–it will likely be a little more expensive, but the taste and health benefits from local, raw and unfiltered honey is worth the extra cost.
So that’s it for this week. Please join me next week for more explorations of Biblical foods!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
