Rosh Hashana Honey Tasting
For the past couple years, when we’ve had family for Rosh Hashana and Passover, I’ve kept it relatively traditional, so I’m thinking about making a few culinary innovations this time around.
The most interesting of which I’ve pondered so far is to begin both RH dinners with a honey tasting. After years of unhappily stomaching clover honey, I forced myself to find an alternative, and have been quite pleased with all the variety available in finer stores and on the Internet. Plus, the Star-K’s Rabbi Dovid Heber recommends all 100% pure honey — that means no flavors added — as kosher without a heksher. I’m thinking of trying a New England cranberry honey (bees feed on cranberry flowers), another exotic domestic variety, and maybe one of the intriguing Italian varieties I’ve found online. Some are even of a spreadable consistency, which should work well served on challah.
One website I’ve found, beeraw.com, provides food and beverage suggestions for pairing with their honey varieties, so it’s possible to take this honey tasting concept to truly ‘gourmet’ levels. igourmet.com also has a wide selection of honeys, and includes food/cheese pairings in their product descriptions.
UPDATE: Turns out that epicurious.com has an article about doing a Rosh Hashana honey tasting, include a ‘honey primer’ describing honey varieties.
koshergourmetmart.com has a nice selection of honeys.
My dad used to buy several varieties of honey for Rosh HaShanah. Maybe we’ll re-introduce the custom when our budget’s a little larger. (*contemplates $50 brisket in the freezer*)