Dear Friends, its been nearly two years since my last post. So much has happened and changed that it seems fitting to finally update this blog. I recently returned from a buying trip to the Portuguese mainland to visit all my suppliers and old friends. Some have retired and moved on to a well earned rest, fortunately for us, there are still strong backs and good hearts working the hillsides and forests of Portugal to bring us the some of the finest honey available anywhere on earth. Many lunches and visits to beehives in the campo, the odd glass of wine and 1500km later, another years supply of alchemically transformed flower nectar by the planets' most selfless creatures, has been secured for us.
The good news first. As with every year, there are some honey varieties which are stellar and with excellent harvests, we try to buy more in these times, as we never know what next year will bring.
Wild lavender, and Orange Blossom, superb quality and a good harvest, you cant ask for more.
our extremely rare Algarvian Wildflower, only 5 barrels were made, all of which we bought. Its worth a mention that all multifloral honeys are not equal. This honey is made by only one beekeeper ( that I know of) made in the littoral of the Western Algarve, it is dark and complex and magnificently balanced. You cannot find this anywhere else for love nor money as it does not exist.
Chestnut honey, a pleasing slightly lighter than last year, though resolutely elegant honey with a clear chestnut aroma and flavour, in terms of harvest a pretty bad year, thin on the ground, but just enough secured for another year.
Serra Da Estrela mountain honey , I have never seen the Serra da Estrela so dry, the normally verdant and pastoral Serra, resembled the dry Montado of the Alentejo. It has been ravaged by wildfires, which mercifully missed Jose's hives by a couple of Km. After an extremely erratic spring and hot winds from Spain, thankfully the harvest is modest to Ok and the quality of this masterfully produced rich honey is as reliably excellent as ever.
Eucalyptus, a catastrophic year for Eucalyptus (again) , this time our Eucalyptus comes from the Silver coast in the Porto region, and is some of the best Eucalyptus honey we have ever bought, testing showed the pollen content at 89.8 %. It is also the most expensive honey I have ever purchased in Portugal and there were literally 3 barrels available after much searching and some good fortune.
Heather and Arbutus, total harvest failure, absolutely nothing to be had. Fortunately we still have enough Arbutus to see us through till the next harvest in February. Fingers crossed for that one. Heather was produced this winter, but a very erratic spring meant the bees ate all of it. Not a barrel to be had. Heather has also suffered some habitat loss owing to fires a few years ago and the Serras have not quite recovered yet. We have about 170 jars left and thats it till next summer.
Laurissilva, again a sad tale, very little to be had at all this year and what there is will be easily absorbed by local demand. I doubt we shall see any at all
Greece
This year Greece has been a happier story, The Spectacular Kalymnos Thyme produced by Isabella is as good as ever, the Red Fir of Vaggelis reliably excellent, and a new Oregano and Lavender which rather reminds me of barley -sugar boiled sweets from childhood. I cant quite shake the association. A lovely honey, very easy to like. The Pine is being harvested right now and we are waiting on the results. I'm reliably informed its a pretty good year.
The BIG PICTURE
So much for the honey update. In terms of the background as the specter of war and the ugly motives of deranged men, approach ever closer, food security is now in the most precarious state it has ever been in the western world and indeed globally. The idiotic wars and the destruction of refineries globally, Saudi, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, the USA and elsewhere, means that we are facing an energy crisis of gigantic proportions. Diesel spreads have now gone stratospheric, with the price of diesel, 90% up from this time last year. We have only seen the beginning of this, I fully expect oil to be at $200 a barrel next year and diesel to be unaffordable. Every single thing in the modern world from farming to transport to energy generation runs on diesel.
The vital components of fertilizer are now scarce and at historic highs for commodities, if available at all. Sulfuric acid, Ammonia, etc Commodities are about to enter a supercycle. We will face a food crisis in 2027. There is no question about this. There is only preparation. Energy Poverty, Food Poverty, Debt Crises and Rising interest rates, Punitive regualtion and Tax scavenging by profligate criminal govts everywhere and War will be the themes of 2027. Social unrest and Political earthquakes will undoubtedly follow.
We have kept our prices artificially low for more time than we can bear, so unfortunately we are going to have to raise this year to cover the vastly increased costs we are facing on every front. I apologize, I'd rather not, but if we are to stay afloat we must. Hopefully you will still find reliably good quality as well as value in what we bring to you in every jar of honey.
Love and Blessings XR
Thank you to the amazing Sara Wyndham Lewis, the Honey Sommelier, the UK's top honey taster for this heartfelt endorsement in this May edition of Beecraft magazine. @honeysommelierlondon
Something about the quality of existence these last few years has resulted in life being unpredictable to the extent that it has been chaotic and unplannable. If ever there was a time to quote Burns, it would be now....to put it simply life has been rough. We seem to perpetually find ourselves on a wing and prayer. So once again a last minute decision saw the family drive up from Portugal to participate in the BBC Good Foods show after a hiatus of 11 years, where we had initially launched Wild about Honey. The Ghosts of Brexit may never be put to bed, and for small food companies like us, it's the gift that just keeps giving. Still at some point you have to get back in the saddle and just put yourself out there.
2000 miles later and with the good fortune to have dear friends Steve and Jenny, living nearby to the NEC, who provided warmth, food, practical assistance and shelter, we set out to put on a show and see first hand how the honey was received by the public at large and hopefully find new customers and introduce them to the world beyond supermarket honey. It was also an opportunity to taste and experience the entire range ourselves, something we rarely get a chance to do. We also thought we would try out some cross promotion with other small producers at the show, and have some fun, particularly with cheese pairings.
It was truly wonderful to sample over and over again, the diversity of this range, which, with all due humility :) , is I believe, the best curated range of honeys available in this country. The depth of flavour and diversity of the Portuguese honeys, the elegance and subtlety of the new Greek honeys together present amazing possibilities for food pairings and should be of real interest to chefs as well as anyone else with a curious palate who enjoys good food. There really is something in this range for every palate.
We sourced three cheeses from the Cheshire cheese company, a creamy cheddar, a smoked cheddar and one with jerk seasoning, with chillies and garlic. From the Cornish Cheese company, their superb Brie and strong Blue. Its fun pairing food, sometimes flavours are antagonistic, strong opposites which balance each other, other times subtle complementaries which gentle preserve the balance of flavours. The most interesting part is the synergy, where two flavours come together and create something new. So if you get a chance, experiment.
Here is what we came up with - Creamy Cheddar and Wild Lavender honey, Smoked Cheddar and Chestnut honey ( amazing), I did not know if any honey could stand up to a Jerk seasoned chilly cheese, but the Kalymnos thyme honey was equal to it with its strong herbal notes. The Cornish Brie with its delicacy was served by the exquisite Vanilla Fir honey and the Powerful Cornish Blue balanced out by the butterscotch chewy sweetness of Eucalyptus honey.
A Few Ideas
We also paired up a wonderful picnic ham, a dry cured ham from The Greek Farmer, with our wonderful resinous Pine honey.
An Artisan made Cretan olive oil and lemon salad dressing with the complex and slightly fruity Laurissilva Cloud forest Honey.
If you are cooking meats like Lamb, Beef or Duck, especially if you are roasting them, finish them with a generous glaze of the incredibly rich and chocolatey Serra Da Estrela honey, Chestnut honey or Pine honey, they all work incredibly well. Just put them on right at the end, so you actually preserve all the goodness of the honey while enjoying its spectacular depth of flavour. There are an awful lot of things you can do with honey besides using it as the powerful medicine that it is
On the subject of Medicine.
Two days into the show, after hours of talking we felt our throats go, headache and mild fever started to develop and we knew that we had to get through at least two more days, so we opened a jar of Arbutus honey and Serra da Estrela honey and between the two of us consumed half a jar of each through the night. That was all it took. The symptoms vanished. Which brings us neatly to a question we often get asked, What is the right dosage, how much honey should I use. The best way to use it is to let your body do the talking, just keep consuming it till you don't want to anymore. Your body will tell you when its had enough. When you are taking honey for general well being a spoon or two in the morning and last thing at night is fine, however if you are getting ill its generally not enough.
So, thanks to all of you who showed up there and participated with us, we hope that you continue to enjoy this incredible range of lovingly produced and curated honeys for years to come. Till the next time. xRaT
