KEY POINTS:
Honey is honey isn't it? Sweet, sticky stuff that nana used to put on hot buttered toast, there's nothing too complicated about it.
Tell that to Maureen Maxwell of West Auckland's Bees Online. Back in 1999 she put a hive of honey bees in her back paddock to
help pollinate some old peach trees. Now she sells estate bottled, single-flower honey to clients all over the world.
"It was definitely an 'a-ha' moment when I tasted that first honey,' says Maxwell. "The difference between fresh honey and the stuff from the supermarket is like the difference between fresh herbs and those little packets of dried herbs you have sitting on your pantry shelves for years.'
Maxwell's background is in the wine industry and she thinks of the different types of honey very much in wine terms.
"Honeys are very different,' she explains. "Our strong, dark honeys like manuka, rewa rewa and thyme are like big dry, red wines. They're not that sweet, are very herbaceous and mineral - you can really taste the iron content. They are fantastic with savoury food like garlic and chilli.
"At the other end of the taste scale you've got the light, sticky dessert wine honeys like tawari, pohutukawa and rata that are very sweet and floral. And in the middle are honeys like clover, avocado and orange blossom. I call them my tofu honeys, they can go sweet or savoury.'
At Bees Online, customers can taste 21 honeys from different regions of New Zealand from the Hokianga to Canterbury and the East Cape, and detect the difference in flavours. They can glimpse working hives and honey production, buy every honey-related product imaginable and, of course, eat food that is steeped in honey in the bright, airy cafe.
"Honey is such an exciting product,' enthuses Maxwell. ``It tastes wonderful and is not only good for us, it's good for the environment. ... The honey we have in New Zealand is the purest, finest honey in the world. One of the main differences is we don't use antibiotics in our hives.'
Since she's also a trained chef, Maxwell has enjoyed experimenting with honey and finding new ways to include it in the food she serves up. One of the first products she developed was red wine and manuka honeygar.
"We blended naturally fermented red wine vinegar with manuka honey,' she explains. "The end result is not unlike a balsamic vinegar in that it's got a fruitiness and a sweetness on the finish. It's great for drizzling over oysters, dipping sushi and sashimi into and excellent for coating roasted vegetables.
"If I'm cooking steak or fish I'll deglaze the pan with it afterwards, reducing it down and using it as a piquant sauce over the top. In the old days we'd have used cream and brandy but honeygar is a great alternative because it's healthy, low fat and gives food that bit of oomph.'
The herbs and flowers grown in the organic gardens at Bees Online flavour the food served in the cafe and what isn't produced onsite is sourced locally. "When people come out here they are getting a real West Auckland experience,' says Maxwell.
Ironically, Maxwell claims to not have a sweet tooth and has never eaten honey on toast. But she does have honey every day, even if it's in a cup of herbal tea.
"My favourite honey is without a doubt tawari. It's white chocolate, it's cream, it's melt-in-the mouth,' she enthuses.
The one thing Maxwell never loses sight of is how precious every drop of honey is. "When you think that a little honey bee will visit 200 flowers every time she leaves the hive and she makes one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her entire lifetime,' she says. "And people just leave all that honey in the bottom of the jar or make a honey sandwich, then chuck it away.'
For more information check out www.beesonline.co.nz
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HONEY TART TATIN
Sweet short pastry for 20cm pie
1 tbsp butter
1 cup Bees Online tawari honey
4 tart Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tamarillos, peeled and sliced
Generously butter bottom and sides of a 20cm oven-proof pan, preferably cast iron.
Pour honey into pan and warm gently. Put tamarillo slices in centre first. Place apple slices in pan and arrange around tamarillo in a curving pattern.
Roll out pastry and place on top, tucking edges between apples and sides of pan.
Bake at 200C until risen and golden (approx 30 mins). Let cool in pan before turning out onto serving platter.
Serve with lightly whipped cream sweetened with warm tawari honey
- Detours, HoS