Published: October 04, 2008 12:04 pm      

Honey provides all sorts of sweet, edible surprises

Birding with Jerry Hall

No matter where I travel, I often return home with a bottle of the local honey. I enjoy sampling the various varieties and sometimes I pick up some sage advice along with the honey.

I was in Lexington to eat at Snow’s Barbecue and purchased a jar of raw honey (unfiltered and un-pasteurized) from the “honey man” who has a truck parked across the street from the barbecue joint. I asked him if he liked the barbecue and he informed me he never touches the stuff, being a vegetarian.

He also told me a good salad dressing can be made by mixing equal parts honey and apple cider vinegar, with just a few drops of olive oil. I tried it and, by gosh, the honey man is right. I zap the mixture for about 20 seconds in the microwave to assist the mixing and the resulting dressing is first rate. You don’t even have to refrigerate it.

On a recent trip to Concan, I purchased a two-pound bottle of Uvalde honey and noticed the label proclaims Uvalde as “the honey capital of the world.” I’m not sure what the basis for that claim is since China is far and away the leading producer of honey in the world, with 40 percent of the world market. The U.S., Argentina and Ukraine follow, with Thailand and Vietnam gaining ground rapidly.

Texas ranks seventh in the U.S., behind North Dakota, South Dakota, Florida, California, Montana and Minnesota in honey production. And within Texas, we have only one major honey packer, Burleson’s in Waxahachie. They’re the biggest packer in the Southwest and the oldest in the country, starting in 1907.

However, Burleson’s buys honey from around the world, whereas Uvalde brags that its honey comes mainly from local huajillo shrubs that bloom the first three weeks in April. Chinese tallow trees yield the largest volume of Texas honey but several South Texas brush plants, including catclaw, huajillo and horsemint, are very productive. Cotton, clover, alfalfa, mesquite and citrus also contribute.

In addition to making a splendid salad dressing, I like honey drizzled on most breakfast cereals and occasionally over a grapefruit half. I’m told it also goes well in green tea and over ice cream.

You can find all sorts of recipes on various honey web sites. For example, suebee.com lists recipes for a honey cheese ball, Christmas cookies, Irish soda bread and pecan thimbles. You can also order plastic bottles of orange blossom and wildflower honey, but the shipping costs are almost as much as the honey on small purchases. Burlesonshoney.com, billed as “the sweetest web site in the world”, offers honey and numerous other items from their Waxahachie Farms online store.

Uvaldehoney.com has a beauty tip for making an all-natural facial cleanser: “Mix honey with equal part oatmeal to make a thick paste. Apply as a face pack and after 30 minutes, wash off to feel refreshed and renewed.”

I imagine it does feel great to get that gunk off your face.

Let’s close with a factoid and a final tip.

Honey bees may visit more than two million flowers and travel 55,000 miles, just to gather enough nectar for one pound of honey.

If you still don’t feel refreshed and renewed after that honey-oatmeal face pack, drink a six pack of brewhouse brown ale. Works for me.