Varietal Is the Spice of Life
The News’ food column, once preoccupied with Bill Knapp’s soup and cheese cracker casserole, finally reflects its community by exploring the nuances of premium honey. The Ann Arbor obsession with anything varietal — olive oil made from just one kind of olive, for example — even makes an appearance here. We’re sort of starting to regret making fun of those old-fashioned sauerkraut recipes.
I used to feel really bad for the honey-guy at farmer’s market - and yeah, bought premium honey from him, damnit, I barely make it through a jar in a year - then somehow got him in a long rant about liberal politics. (Against, otherwise it wouldn’t be of note, would it?) First and only time, but all I could really do was nod my head and slowly, oh so slowly, back away with the honey.
Entertaining for sure, at least. Hey, he’s in the article. Wait, he is the article. Maybe it was just a fluke that one time, usually it’s all honey-speak. He even gave me a brochure from a national honey association. Honey!
posted by Jen on September 14th, 2005 at 11:08 pmYou know, people wonder why bees sting them, and then they go and eat the substance that comes out of a bee’s asshole. If someone was harvesting my excrement and spreading it on their toast, I would probably sting that person too, or marry that person, because that kind of dedication doesn’t come around very often.
posted by Real Big on September 15th, 2005 at 3:47 amI once made the mistake of standing in the honey aisle of Zingerman’s and saying, just a little louder than personal conversation required, “I don’t think there’s that much difference between this stuff and the stuff you buy in the plastic bear-shaped containers.” Unfortunately a Zingerhead near me heard this and felt it was her duty to proselytize the virtues of honey at $20 per ounce. That was the beginning of my true falling out with the Zing. And while I concede there might be a difference in taste, it’s not a 500% difference.
posted by Stewey on September 15th, 2005 at 10:19 amThe honey guy at the farmers’ market is a valuable ally when one is homebrewing mead…
posted by Murph on September 15th, 2005 at 11:54 amHomebrewed mead… mmm, I have a bottle in my fridge.
posted by Dave on September 15th, 2005 at 2:47 pmHey, I make mead! What’s he charge for a gallon of honey?
posted by Scott on September 15th, 2005 at 5:13 pmBut that $20 stuff at Zingerman’s is made by a rare bee who eats rare flowers.
posted by Kozzie on September 15th, 2005 at 10:28 pmIf you want honey for making your own mead, you can much better prices for bulk “artisanal” honey if you buy direct from an area farmer. Just traveling from a little backyard apiary in Saline to the Kerrytown Farmer’s Market will magically make the price go up more than a few bucks per pound. Hit up the Ann Arbor Brewer’s Guild with a question about where to buy, they’ll give you tons of answers.
Oh, whoops Ann Arbor is a waste… so you might not want to get involved with Ann Arborites that actually live here. Live, like, permanently i.e. not as a temporary nightmare between Real Life in a city.
posted by homebrewer on September 16th, 2005 at 11:04 amI didn’t expect to hear any affordable gallon price…
Yup, I’m in the Ann Arbor Brewer’s Guild, and now and then somebody buys a 5-gallon bucket and brokers it out. You can get some amazing prices that way.
Or just go to Detroit’s Eastern Market for cheap-but-good honey, tons of good produce at good produce, and of course that store that has the big cheese counter.
posted by Scott on September 16th, 2005 at 11:12 amI second the Detroit Farmers Market call. R Hirt is the store that has the cheese over the counter. I break my own environmental-leanings once or twice a year and drive out there just to get fruit and veggies and cheese and gallon jugs of *good* red wine for fondue and sangria. So worth it. Fresh coffee and tea and spices at Detroit Spice Co, too.
Honey Cream Ale from Rogue is my new favorite beer. I hate it when my new favorite anything costs $6 for a fix, but here we are.
posted by Jen on September 16th, 2005 at 3:08 pmIt’s easy to slag Zingerman’s, however, the honey they carry is amazing. Try the Rosemary honey (bees only feed from rosemary flowers)…surprise, it tastes like rosemary! Expensive at $15 a jar, but there is nothing comperable in the states. Same with the lavendar honey.
This is not to say there aren’t good honeys that are cheap, including the dude at the farmers market…but there is a reason the stuff at Zing is pricey.
It’s from France! (accordian blast here)
posted by OFWinsurgent on September 16th, 2005 at 7:20 pmif i could make bees only eat steak and then harvest the honey from their a-holes, would the honey taste like steak?
posted by Real Big on September 17th, 2005 at 3:02 amHoney doesn’t come from a bee’s a-hole; rather, it is regurgitated from their stomachs after being partially digested (substitute “vomit” for “feces”, if that will make anybody feel better).
posted by JCP2 on September 17th, 2005 at 9:29 pmThere’s a honey packing house in Onstead that sells 60-pound pails for around a dollar a pound. They buy honey from local beekeepers at around 60 cents.
posted by Michael McC. on September 22nd, 2005 at 3:34 pmI’m having a Homer Simpson moment: Mmmmmm, honey!
I’m not a big Zingerman’s fan, as I’ve never found anything there good enough to justify the price.
That being said, I do spend extra moola on some specialty items: Typhoo decaf tea, Maltesers, Ribena, any decent cheese (thank god for Trader Joe’s!), and if I could find it any more, HP curry sauce. You know. I guess it’s a personal thing, deciding what food merits extra costs Eh yep.
posted by Ferona on September 25th, 2005 at 10:43 pmJust to clarify:
“You know, people wonder why bees sting them, and then they go and eat the substance that comes out of a bee’s asshole…. (posted by Real Big)”
Honey is regurgitated nectar not feces. Bee-$h!t is Bee-$h!t. Honey is bee vomit.
posted by Aaron on May 10th, 2006 at 5:02 pm