A Heavenly Dew from Spain

Amongst ancient Mediterranean people, honey and dried fruits such as raisins, dates and figs were the main sources of sweet flavors. Then the widespread introduction of cane sugar in the 16th century increased the liking for things sweet. Today, as in ancient times, honey continues to be as popular as ever and is used, sometimes together with dried fruits, in a huge range of desserts and confections, the main one in Spain being the traditional turrón .

In Greek and Roman cooking, flavors were often mixed. Honey was often added to savory dishes or mixed with wine. In the recipe book by Caius Gavius Apicius De re coquinaria, there are many combinations of honey with vinegar and garum indicating the Roman inclination to mix sweet and sour and sweet and savory. In this first cookery book known in western civilization, honey is the fourth most widely-used condiment, proving its importance in the cuisine of ancient Rome.

The Arabs also liked to mix flavors and used honey to reduce the sourness of vinegar or of verjuice to create the sweet-sour flavor they liked especially. Honey was, of course, an essential ingredient in candies, pastries, cakes and fritters of all sorts. And the turrón and marzipan they made with honey, sugar, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios have reached us in almost their original form, in what today is the most emblematic of confections for the Christmas celebrations in Spain.

The Geography of Honey

Honey is tremendously varied, as its flavor, color, appearance and nutritional value can vary from one hive to another. In Spain there are multi-flower honeys when the nectar comes from different sources, and single-flower honeys, from a single plant species.

In southern Spain, in the province of Granada (Andalusia), there is chestnut, rosemary, thyme, avocado and orange blossom honey, which were already being made back in the 14th century, under the reign of the Nasrid dynasty . In the center of the Iberian peninsula, between the provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha), the honey produced in the Alcarria district from rosemary and lavender has been famous since the 17th century. These two traditional products are each guaranteed by a Protected Designation: PDO Miel de Granada and PDO Miel de La Alcarria.

The best-known honey in northern Spain is that from Galicia, made from eucalyptus, chestnut, blackberry or heather, and covered by the PGI Miel de Galicia. Also worthy of mention are the orange-blossom honey from the east coast, the rosemary honey from Alicante and many others from the Madrid sierra, Asturias, Castile-La Mancha, Basque Country and Extremadura.

Science tells us that honey is a healthy, nutritive food containing mineral salts, vitamins, trace elements, enzymes, organic acids and proteins. Our Mediterranean predecessors were clearly on the right track because they always considered it to have medicinal properties.

List of food stores in Spain

List of food stores around the world