I have previously posted about certain foods that I am enthusiastic/passionate about – I have written about tea, chicha morada, scones and meringue. Today I’d like to tell you about another food that I’m mad about: honey, that wonderful sweet miracle made by the ever-industrious bees. I don’t think a day goes by without my having at least one tablespoon of this sweet, golden delicacy… on toast, with a warm piece of freshly-baked bread or over my porridge; I even use it on savory dishes, which always gives them a very nice touch.
This gift, given to us by Nature though the tireless work of the hardworking bees, has been part of our lives since prehistoric times. In the Araña caves in Valencia, in Spain, you can find cave paintings made approximately 8,000 years ago, depicting people collecting honey from a bee hive. Humans, therefore, have been enjoying this delicious treasure since then – and probably before, it just wasn’t recorded.
Throughout history, honey has been used to sweeten and preserve food, to soften our skin and to cure injuries. A clay tablet from Nippur, in the Euphrates River area, dating back to the second millennium BCE, tells us of a recipe for curing wounds which includes honey. The Bible also has several references to honey, both in the Old and the New Testaments. Honey was also used in ancient times to embalm and move bodies from one place to another. It has been written that the body of Alexander the Great was preserved in honey in order to be taken from Babylon to Memphis.
In ancient Chinese medicine, honey was considered to be a balanced element; neither Yin nor Yang – and it was applicable to the lungs, the spleen and the intestines. One of the delicacies reserved for the ruling classes of the times was a mixture of honey with the larvae of bees, as well as honeyed wine.
Ancient Egyptians buried their Pharaohs with amphoras filled with honey so that the souls of the dead could find sustenance in it during their journey to the next world – and the amazing thing about honey is that after thousands of years, archeologists have been able to find it in a perfect state. Honey does not spoil. It is the only food that has an incredible duration. Honey was also used in ancient Egypt for medicinal purposes, it cured sores, cuts and burns. It was also used as a cosmetic, as body ointments, creams and exfoliants.
We all now know that at the first sign of a sore throat or the first inklings of a cold we need to get ourselves a good cup of tea with lemon and honey and that should ward off the worst of it. You can also add to this tea a bit of ginger – another super food about which I’ll probably post in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy you honey and sweeten your life!
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