Saturday, July 14, 2007

Honey is different in Italy!


On my last trip to visit my family's home in Campania, I was greeted with a bottle of their own D'Amico honey. Each evening we would sit in the large gardens among the olive trees enjoying their own local honey on my cousin Maria's home baked bread. "E buono? E buono?" they would always ask only when my mouth was full. "E buono!" or it is good, I would answer with a huge grin. It was dark and sumptuous with a strong hint of blackberries. My great grandfather had planted those blackberries almost one hundred years ago and his honeybees are still gathering the nectar from those very same bushes.

Each honey has a unique flavor profile depending upon the type of floral nectar the honeybees forage. So bees who gather nectar from clover will make clover honey and lavender make lavender honey. So yes, honey IS different in Italy. "E buono!"