This first harvest of the year is a rare and precious one! Especially on the French side. Indeed, it’s easier to harvest rosemary honey on the Spanish side than on our side! The seasons are warmer and the slopes much sunnier than ours!
Rosemary blooms mainly in the Pyrénées Orientales department. Narbonne rosemary is reputed to be the best! In the past, rosemary honey was commonly called “Narbonne honey”.
Rosemary is an evergreen shrub. Its leaves are needle-thin with round edges. Its pale blue flowers appear at the end of winter and after frosts. It grows wild around the Mediterranean, but adapts well to other climates. It can withstand sub-zero temperatures without going too low!
Rosemary honey is harvested in May, at the very end of the flowering period and before the scent of thyme, rockrose or other components of our garrigues appear.
Rosemary honey in the kitchen:
Rosemary honey is widely used in cooking. It’s a honey that goes well with any dish. Thanks to its light, pleasant taste, it won’t spoil traditional dishes such as duck breasts. It can also be used as a natural sweetener, replacing white sugar in any herbal tea, or simply to sweeten cakes and pastries. For breakfast, rosemary honey is easy to spread on toast. Neither too runny nor too hard, it’s the ideal honey that appeals to many of us.
It can also be used to decorate apple or pear pies or pear tarts, or add it to ready-made dishes.
The taste of French rosemary honey:
This is a honey with a subtle, fragrant taste. Sometimes fresh, it delights most gourmets. Its crystallization is fine and creamy. It keeps for a long time without spoiling. However, keep it away from light to preserve all its qualities.
Properties of rosemary honey :
Rosemary is reputed to be a cholagogue. In other words, it has a beneficial effect on bile. It is used in many herbal teas and infusions for the liver. Indeed, it has been used for centuries in traditional medicine for its antimicrobial properties and positive effects on digestion.
Did you know?
Since ancient times, Rosemary has been used to improve and stimulate memory. Even today, students in Greece burn it in their rooms during exam periods.
