Confectionery

In less than a year, after being stung by a rather lovely flying bumble bee, I've consumed so much honey that I'm most likely now a target of both mosquitoes and bees (I can be a natural mosquito repellent for others--a human mosquito pin-cushion with at least 20 bites per leg). I never knew honey could be eaten straight. I rarely consumed it, and it was always just another ingredient in food, sweets, or beverage. Now, after tasting the real thing, I'm hard-pressed to go back to the synthetic taste of mass-produced honey!

As with tea, coffee, chocolate, and wine, honey can be as varied in flavour and texture. So far, I've noticed 2 major flavour types--floral and woodsy--and texture can range from runny, to gloopy-thick, to a mix of runny and set, to completely set. Amazingly, I've had (full containers of) English lime-flavoured clover, acacia (English), Australian eucalyptus, Mexican wildflower, pine (French), buckwheat (!), African Miombo forest, clover (American), Menalou vanilla fur (x2), and Tasmanian leatherwood. I've also tried mountain (French) and chestnut (English).

The most bizzare was the buckwheat not only for the unfamiliar concept of honey coming from a wheat plant but also for the rather odd smell; but the taste is completely different. Even simply having the honey alone or mixing it with water can draw out further contrasts.

I seem to prefer honey with a woodsy flavour. The pine one is marvelous, and it's the one that really triggered my honey exploration. The vanilla fur is very gentle and reminds me a lot of candy. As for the Tasmanian leatherwood, it's very sweet!

I do have to say, scenes from the "Bee Movie" often come to mind. I don't want to be another heartless consumer, but at least it does make you appreciate honey all the more. The next question is: should I thank the bee or not for its sali[a]nt sting??