06/06/2014
FOOD FACT
HONEY is made from nectar and bee vomit.
# The HONEY Marketing Association is going to make the centerpiece of its next ad campaign, but the fact is that HONEY is made from nectar the worker bees regurgitate, which is a polite way of saying vomit.
The bees collect the nectar from flowers and store it in their "HONEY stomachs," separate from their true stomachs. On their way back to the hive they secrete enzymes into it that begin converting the stuff into HONEY.
# HONEY modern uses :-
1. As a food and in cooking :-
The main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, as a spread on bread, and as an addition to various beverages, such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages. According to The National Honey Board (a USDA-overseen organization), "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance...this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners".[40] Honey barbecue and honey mustard are common and popular sauce flavors.
2. As a fermentable :-
Honey is the main ingredient in the alcoholic beverage mead, which is also known as "honey wine" or "honey beer". Historically, the ferment for mead was honey's naturally occurring yeast. Honey is also used as an adjunct in some beers.
Honey wine, or mead, is typically (modern era) made with a honey and water mixture with a pack of yeast added for fermentation. Primary fermentation usually takes 40 days, after which the must needs to be racked into a secondary fermentation vessel and left to sit about 35–40 more days. If done properly, fermentation will be finished by this point (though if a sparkling mead is desired, fermentation can be restarted after bottling by the addition of a small amount of sugar), but most meads require aging for 6–9 months or more in order to be palatable.