Back in August, Aubrey from central North Carolina asked if I had any experience with purple honey. Specifically, he wanted to know what makes it purple. Although I have no personal experience, the idea of purple honey has fascinated me for years. Like a lot of folks, I first heard about it in The Secret Life […] Read more
The black locust tree, Robinia pseudoacacia, is famous for producing a fruity and fragrant honey that ranges from water white to lemon yellow to yellowish green. A batch of monofloral black locust honey with little cross-contamination from other flowers can be as clear as a glass jar. The honey is high in fructose so it […] Read more
Recently, someone mentioned that honey from trees is much slower to granulate than honey from other sources. I had never heard this before and it intrigued me. I was fascinated because my own honey never granulates—at least I’ve never seen it granulate—and I have some that is over seven years old. I know my honey […] Read more
A number of years ago my daughter and I went on a pie trip. I had just read American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America’s Back Roads by Pascale Le Draoulec, then I sent it to my daughter who also read it. At the same instant we knew what we would do. It […] Read more
Carrot honey is indeed unusual—unusual because domesticated carrots, Daucus carota, are a biennial crop that develop their famous taproots during the first summer of growth. When you want to grow a carrot, you buy a seed, plant it, harvest the carrot two or three months later, and never see a carrot flower. So how do […] Read more
Okay, here’s an admission: I used to moonlight as a secret shopper. I received a monthly list of fast food restaurants, items to buy, and forms to fill out. I went to these establishments and bought the food, checked the restrooms, looked under the tables, and counted my change. I returned an item to the […] Read more
Foodies are familiar with the term “terroir” especially as it relates to wine, coffee, tea, olive oil, and even cheese. The term comes from the French and literally means “land.” The idea here is that the special physical characteristics of the place where an agricultural item is grown affect the way it tastes. These unique […] Read more