Prosperi-Porta - Honey : everyday recipes for cooking and baking with natures sweetest secret ingredient

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK to those first few brave souls who gathered honey from hives in the wild, and to those who began and continue to work in what we know now as the honey industry. And to the honeybees themselves. Without these marvelous insects we would be missing not only a delicious and nutritious source of natural sugar but also approximately 30 to 35 percent of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables we consume. I dont want to imagine a scenario without the great diversity with which we are blessed.

Angelo Prosperi-Porta and I share a common passionfor upholding the traditions of our family kitchens and the gardens that supplied them. We love to share the harvest by creating wonderful meals for friends and family. This is, after all, what has defined us as humans down through the ages.

For Angelo, it was his parents who instilled in him a great appreciation for fine traditional Italian food and a humble respect for kitchen gardens. It was a family tradition he carried with him to Coopers Cove Guesthouse, where I first met him, and where he would harvest edible flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and berries from his own land. We both, it seems, appreciate the ritual so much that we dont mind the sore backs from weeding or the dirt under our fingernails.

We both also love to watch the honeybees that fly through our little patches of paradise, linking our gardens and pollinating the plants that produce the foods we enjoy so much.

Honeyused to enhance natural, wholesome, and delicious ingredientsis the focus of this cookbook. These are simple, straightforward recipes with a traditional flair. But this is much more than just a cookbook. Honey is about the time-honored ancient relationship between humans and honeybees.

We are currently experiencing a resurgence of appreciation for farm-fresh, locally grown, organic, natural, and whole unprocessed foods. These words have become the new mantras for those who seek the satisfaction of a meal cooked and prepared the way our ancestors would have enjoyed it. We have a better understanding of what good food is and what it takes to produce it ourselves, or at least what it takes for the producers at local farmers markets to bring their bounty to the table.

The honeybee is the anchor for so much of the fresh, nutritious food we desire, and what we need now is a little insight into how important a role these insects play in maintaining a clean environment, healthy soils, and pure water.

Honey , therefore, is not just a collection of recipes by a master chef of international acclaim with decades of passion and generations of tradition behind him. It is an entreaty for a convergence of thoughtfor people to come together in understanding that such a book would not be possible without the existence of the hardworking honeybees. That without them, we would lose much more than just natures sweetest secret ingredient.

Bob Liptrot
Master beekeeper
Tugwell Creek Meadery
(www.tugwellcreekfarm.com)
Vancouver Island, Canada

My great appreciation goes to those who made this book a reality. The gang at Touchwood Editions: former publisher Ruth Linka, in particular, who helped set me on the path of writing about and creating with honey, and current associate publisher Taryn Boyd, for her enthusiasm and good humor, not to mention patience and understandinglife does get in the way sometimes! Cailey Cavallin contributed greatly in helping to make things make sense with her editing and suggestions. Thanks also to Pete Kohut for his layout of the book and to Grace Yaginuma for her proofreading and corrections.

Bob Liptrot from Tugwell Creek Farm has been an ongoing inspiration. We first met Bob and his partner, Dana LeCompte, almost two decades ago, when they came to visit us at Coopers Cove Guesthouse, and it has been exciting to watch them develop the successful enterprise that they operate today. Bobs technical information and suggestions were very helpful.

Nadine Boyd and Gary Faessler did a wonderful job with the photography. Gary, thanks for being there at the last minute.

My best taste-tester and life partner Ina Haegemann has always kept me on track, with a few detours along the way. Her critiques and suggestions helped make many of the recipes even tastier, especially the desserts!

The plight of the honeybees that produce the product we love is in the news these days and has been for many years. It is important for us to realize that nothing happens without a cause. We are not sure exactly why bees and other pollinators around the world are suffering. Whether it is climate change, overuse of pesticides and insecticides, or other causes, we can all do our part by supporting sustainable sources of honey, limiting or eliminating our own use of chemicals, and doing what we can to contribute to a healthy environment for all. The bees have been the most important contributors to this book.

There are many reasons to cook with honey or, at the very least, begin using it to replace some of the white sugar in your diet. Though honey is of course still a sugar, just in a different form, it is the healthier optiona natural whole food, it is rich in minerals and vitamins. And you need less of it to achieve the same level of sweetness. But the main reason I use honey is that there are so many varieties (each with its own distinct flavor) available to choose from and they just taste so good!