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Honey and Herbs: Bringing Sweetness And Creativity Into The Kitchen
Part 1 - Syrups & Infused Honey

By Sarah Head

Humans are born craving sweetness. At first it is satisfied by our mother’s milk, but then we seek other sources. One of the sweetest foods we can ever taste is honey, the wonderful substance produced by bees. Every civilisation has developed a relationship with their local colonies of bees, with honey used as both food and medicine.

The oldest recorded honey was found in the tomb of an Egyptian couple, Yuya and Tjuyu, by archaeologists, Quibell and Davis, in 1905. It was still recognisable by its scent three thousand years after being placed amongst the burial goods. We know from ancient texts that honey was not only eaten, but used as a medium for herbal medicines wherever a physician could harvest honey from wild or farmed sources.

During the 20th century, use of honey in herbal medicines fell from favour. Many herbalists felt their patients should be exposed to the unadulterated flavours of all herbs in order to counteract the bland and over-sweet diet of most western nations. In more recent years there has been a movement to reduce the reliance on alcoholic herbal extractions and honey is once more being offered as an effective medium for herbal medicines.

Honey on its own has medicinal properties. It soothes sore throats and it is said that taking 1 teaspoon 3 times a day 30 minutes before eating will kill candida. Recent research has confirmed its effectiveness in treating burns, deep wounds and hospital acquired infections. At a recent conference dinner, I sat next to a retired practice nurse who told me how she used to successfully coat resistant leg ulcers with honey before her managers found out and insisted she used “modern techniques” which never worked as well.

Syrups & Cordials

Honey can be used as a sweetener in herbal teas. Much smaller amounts are needed than sugar and the flavour of the herb will often be enhanced. It can also be substituted in syrup or cordial recipes in equal amounts. I always use Non Shaw and Christopher Hedley’s basic syrup recipe which requires one pound of honey or sugar to 20 fluid ounces of liquid.

Basic Syrup Recipe

1 L (2 pints) Water
40 g (1½ oz) Dried Herb or 100g (4oz) Fresh Chopped Herb
450 g (1 lb) Honey

Put herb in water, bring to a boil, let simmer 20-30 minutes, strain. Clean out pan, pour liquid back into it, let sit on minimum heat until you only have 2 dl (7 fl.oz) left. Add sugar, simmer until sugar has dissolved, pour into jars, label. (This takes time. 1 fluid ounce evaporates about every hour.)

Derbyshire Delight

Pick an amount of fresh dandelions, red clover flowers and stalks and hawthorn flowers. Remove the dandelion petals and centres from any green bits. Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Strain and measure liquid. Clean saucepan. Return liquid to the pan and simmer with the lid off until the liquid is reduced by 7/8s. Add honey in the ratio of 1pint to1lb honey. Stir gently until honey is dissolved. Pour into heated, sterilized bottles. Seal when cold. Label and date.

Infused Honey

When I first started working with herbs, I saw honey only as a sweetener, something to substitute for sugar. It took thirteen years before I started to experiment with honey as a medium in its own right – mainly thanks to Kiva Rose Hardin and her description of making a honey which was effective for burns using rose leaves and petals, evening primrose flowers and bergamot flowers.

All three plants were available to me, so I took the plunge and made the infused honey. I’ve still not had any burns to deal with yet, but the honey was a great success, not only for flavour, but also to use during talks and demonstrations.

Kiva also shared a recipe for making an aromatic mint and lemon infused honey. Like other infused honeys, you fill a jar with mint leaves, add 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind and the juice of one lemon. This recipe is part of an ancient Arabic cooling drink used to aid digestion called Mint Sekanjabin. It is made from mint infused vinegar and the mint honey.

Honey can be used as an extraction medium for herbal medicine or for culinary use. Herbal honeys are easily made by filling a glass jar with fresh leaves, fruits, flowers or washed roots and covering with runny honey slowly, removing air bubbles with a chopstick until the jar is full. The honey can then be left on a sunny windowsill for 4- 6 weeks before decanting.

Care must be taken if a herb is covered with natural yeast that a fermentation process does not start. Elderberries are best infused in the fridge unless you want your window ledge dyed a fetching shade of purple!

Rosehips can be finely chopped in a food processor before covering with honey, but it is advisable to remove the seeds and seed hairs if you want to be able to eat the honey without straining it. Rosehip seeds are very stony and can break your teeth if chewed inadvertently! Having said that, the flavour is wonderful!

Over the past two summers I have made nine different kinds of infused honey.

Flowers	Summer flowers – Marjoram, Rose, Thyme, Evening Primrose, Self Heal, Wild Bergamot (purple) Burns - Apothecary’s Rose, Evening Primrose, Red Bergamot, St John’s wort
Leaves	Mint (Peppermint/Swiss mint and Applemint) with lemon juice and zest, Sage
Fruit	Elderberry, Rosehip
Roots	Angelica, Horseradish

I’ve noticed that herbs alter the consistency and the sweetness of honey. Using fresh herbs makes the honey thinner and the Bergamot/Rose/Evening primrose combination is less sweet. Everyone thought I was mad mixing grated horseradish with honey until they tried it. The result is a perfect accompaniment to fire cider vinegar. The angelica root honey is also an interesting flavour and provides a palatable tonic for menopausal women.

A useful honey to have around when suffering from viral or bacterial infections is garlic honey.

Garlic Honey

Peel and chop or mince a whole head of garlic. Leave for at least fifteen minutes to allow the enzyme allinase to activate the allin within the garlic forming allicin. This is the powerful chemical component which helps resolve colds, coughs, sore throats, and sinus infections. Externally it can be used for skin infections. For chronic concerns, garlic helps reduce blood sugar and high blood pressure. It is also helpful to treat Malaria and boost immunity for AIDS. It is famous as a de-wormer, should you suffer with intestinal parasites.

Place the chopped garlic in a glass jar and cover with honey, stirring with a chopstick to remove air bubbles. Leave to infuse for 3-4 weeks. The infused honey can be taken with or without the garlic pieces, depending on preference.

This honey is a useful alternative for people who cannot tolerate raw garlic.

Karen Vaughan is a qualified herbalist and acupuncturist in New York who suffers with diabetes. She recently shared a recipe for turmeric honey which helps to reduce inflammation and doesn’t appear to affect blood sugar levels.

Turmeric Honey

Take enough turmeric powder to fill a jar about 2/3 full. Add 1 part freshly ground pepper and 1 part dry ginger and mix well. Then start stirring in a thin local honey (you can heat it over warm water to help thin it.) Stir in until you have a stiff paste. The precise amount varies depending upon weather and honey, but the point is to put in enough to slightly cover the taste while helping the assimilation with the honey. Take a heaped teaspoonful once a day.

Coming In Part 2: Using honey to make Pills and Lozenges.

References

Andrews, M - The Private Tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu in the Valley of the Kings
Church C & S - Syrups And Other Sweet Preparations
Cory Su - Sweet Medicine: Making Garlic Honey
Vaughan, K - Sweet Turmeric

Sarah Head is a member of The Herb Society and a regular contributor to our forum and website. She offers training on coping with bereavement to professionals all over the country. And also runs herb workshops and grows over 100 herbs in two gardens in Solihull and the Cotswolds.

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