By: Amanda Neal
As a student in the Classic Culinary Arts plus Farm-to-Table program at ICC, I’ve
learned a lot about local product selection, and I’ve been dying to search for
new, local ingredients to cook with in my own kitchen. So last weekend I
ventured to the Union Square Greenmarket to see if anything caught my attention
and was a product I had never tried before. Right as I entered the market, I
saw a stand with all different kinds of honey and beeswax products, and I soon
learned that it was Andrew’s Honey, by Andrew Cote. The decadent and luscious
taste of honey is something I love, so I had to give it a try.
I had actually heard about Andrew and his honey before
from reading the book “Eat the City” by Robin Shulman". The book is about
fishers, butchers, farmers, winemakers, beekeepers and brewers who helped build
the food scene in New York. I found
Andrew’s story of harvesting bees on some of NYC, Brooklyn and Queens’ rooftops
very interesting, and I’ve been dying to try his products ever since. As well,
I had never heard of “whipped honey” before, so I thought it would be an
interesting, new ingredient to try.
It tastes like honey, but is
slightly sweeter and more spreadable. Normally honey is also stickier in
texture, but this is slightly thicker and actually grittier like sugar. It goes
great on waffles, toast, and in a mug of hot tea. Because it’s so similar to
sugar, I got the idea to use the whipped honey in the making of some pearl
onions glacer a brun, a cooking
technique we learned in our Level 1 class at ICC. To cook a vegetable this way, you
place the veggie in a saucepan with just enough water to go half way up the vegetables.
You then add a pinch of salt, sugar and butter, and cover until all the water
has evaporated and/or the vegetables are tender. Once tender and the sugar
begins to caramelize, you deglaze the pan with a little water, and the end
product is delicious caramelized vegetables. I decided to substitute the sugar
for the whipped honey, and the pearl onions turned out delicious. This product is so
versatile, and the fact that it’s also locally made in NYC makes it that much
sweeter!
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