GUSTI Blog

Industrial vs Artisanal Honey

 On Tasting Table, an article about honeys and the honey pump, which will prevent you from making a sticky mess when you pull the honey out of the jar. I thought, what a great idea. But then, perhaps not. Artisanal honeys chrystallize, they become more or less solids. If they don't christalize, they are an industrial products. I just went in the warehouse to check our five honeys made with religious fervor and taliban approach by Licu Manias in Sardegna. They are all solid, you can pump like there is no tomorrow... nothing will come out.

Cardoon Honey at the James Beard House

Holly Smith is the chef-owner of Cafe Juanita, in Seattle WA., an excellent restaurant because Holly is a very creative chef and because she buys the best ingredients available, many from us. One of the products she buys is cardoon honey by Liccu Manias from Sardegna. She was invited to cook a benefit dinner at the end of March at the James Beard House in NYC. The dish they chose for her was  Semolina Gnocchi with Cardoon Honey. She said: "I really think it is the honey that sold them on this particular dish..."

The dish was a triumph and  here is the recipe. 

The Best Honey in the World

I met Licu Manias last month at the Salone del Gusto where Slow Food awarded his Asphodel Honey with a very prestigious recognition and where his book, the Dictionary of Honey, was officially presented. Licu (Luigi, in Italian) is the "honey authority", revered as such by all his peers; he and his bees live and work in rugged and wind swept hills of pristine Sardegna. He is obsessed about sustainability, traditions and the environment: he makes his honey in a construction of 40,000 bricks made of mud, as his ancestors would have. How crazy is that? Before you come to any conclusion, you shoud try the honey and decide for yourself.

A while ago Antonio, Anne and I went to see Sonetaula, a mesmerizing Sardinian independent movie. It is spoken in the local dialect with subtitles in Italian. It is a long movie - 3 hours of pure admiration for the people, the landscape and the island's culture; its pace is very very slow.  Licu defies these stereotypes: he is a young, energetic, lovely man who, not only speaks Italian, he speaks great English. If anything, he is too quick. Grazie, Licu for your wonderful introduction: