Honeybee_ Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - C. Marina Marchese [86]
BLOOMS: October to November.
BOTANICAL NAME: Thymus vulgaris
COMMON NAMES: Common or garden thyme, timo, thym, tomillo.
PROVENANCE: Greece, Italy, eastern Europe, New Zealand’s South Island around the town of Alexandra.
TERRIOR: Dry slopes, rocky clay, poor soil.
HONEY COLOR: Caramel to dark golden amber or darker.
TASTING NOTES: Aromatic, floral, lemony, minty, pungent, strikingly sweet, and acidic. Dense body and almost foamy crystallization.
PAIRINGS: Drizzle over Gorgonzola cheese topped with fresh figs and pecans on crispy bread, and serve with chardonnay or Syrah. Mix into Greek yogurt with granola. Stir into herbal tea, and mix into lemon sorbet. Use to make lemon-pepper glaze for lamb, fish, and poultry.
69. TULIP POPLAR
PLANT CHARACTERISTICS: An ornamental tree with stunning, fragrant, bell-shaped yellow-green flowers that are orange on the inside. It has four lobed leaves that turn a blaze of gold each autumn.
BLOOMS: April to June.
BOTANICAL NAME: Liriodendron tulipifera
COMMON NAMES: Tulip tree, white wood, yellow poplar, tulip magnolia, American tulip tree, tulipifero, tulipier, tulipero.
PROVENANCE: Native to the middle eastern seaboard of North America. An important honey plant in virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.
TERRIOR: Sandy, dry conditions. Prefers sun, yet is shade tolerant.
HONEY COLOR: Dark amber with a very deep amber reddish tinge. Becomes darker with age.
TASTING NOTES: Rich, pleasant, sweet, flowery, and smoky with a hint of metal. Resembles molasses.
PAIRINGS: Drizzle over blue or stinky cheeses and sliced green apples and pecans, and serve with Syrah. Pour over vanilla ice cream or sliced fresh peaches. Spread on pancakes, waffles, bran muffins, gingerbread, and corn breads.
70. TUPELO
PLANT CHARACTERISTICS: A gum tree with clusters of greenish flowers that develop into soft, red berrylike fruits. Tupelo honey is rare and is considered one of the most delicious honeys. In order to harvest the honey, honeybee hives are placed on platforms in the swamps where the tupelo gum grows. The process is expensive and labor intensive, making this honey sought after and highly respected.
BLOOMS: April and May.
BOTANICAL NAME: Nyssa ogeche (The name of the genus is derived from
NYSSEIDES, the name of a Greek water nymph.)
COMMON NAMES: Tupelo, nisa, Ogeechee tupelo. (Tupelo comes from two Cree words that mean “tree of the swamp.”)
PROVENANCE: Native along the Apalachicola, Choctahatchee, and Ochlockonee rivers of Georgia and along the Chipola and Apalachicola rivers of northwest Florida.
TERRIOR: Prefers moist, well-drained, acidic soils of the pineland swamps. Likes full sun, but tolerates light shade.
HONEY COLOR: White or extra light amber with a greenish cast.
TASTING NOTES: Rich buttery texture. Floral aroma with herbal notes and with hints of cinnamon, melon, and pears. Because of its high fructose levels, the honey is very sweet and won’t crystallize.
PAIRINGS: Drizzle over blue, aged pecorino, and other robust cheeses, and serve with cabernet sauvignon or Syrah. Mix as a glaze for pork chops.
71. ULMO
PLANT CHARACTERISTICS: A slow-growing evergreen shrub that has large white, camellialike flowers. Bees love its aromatic nectar. Ulmo trees are a threatened species of rain forest flora.
BLOOMS: January to March (Chilean late summer).
BOTANICAL NAME: Eucryphia cordifolia
COMMON NAMES: Gnulgu, muermo, roble de Chile.
PROVENANCE: Native to Patagonia, Chile, and the Cochamó valley in Argentina. It is found in Araucania and Chiloe in Chile. Ulmo also grows well in Scotland and has been introduced in the north Pacific coast of the United States.
TERRIOR: Temperate rain forests along the Andes Mountains. This land is rich in humus, and the climate is humid.
HONEY COLOR: Light amber with pink tones.
TASTING NOTES: Creamy, buttery, with exotic perfume of aniseed, jasmine, vanilla, violet, and cloves. Touches of tea and caramel.
PAIRINGS: Drizzle over traditional Chilean chanco, panquehue, and quesillo