"herbal" news and stories

Honey is a symbol of the sweet year ahead during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, but it isn't an ingredient that gets as much respect as it deserves, largely because people tend to stick to the generic grocery store honeys. Now, it's not that there is anything wrong with a generic honey, but they do lack the nuances that many more specific varieties have to offer. These honeys often come from just one type of plant or one small area of land and, rather than just tasting sweet, they offer notes of berries, flowers, citrus and spices that can take a dessert - or even a piece of toast - to a new level. Epicurious picked out some of their favorites, which include:

• Black Sage Honey, mild with notes of apple and vanilla
• Star Thistle Honey, intensely floral
• Rosemary and Lavender Honey, very mildly herbal
• Javanese Island Honey Rambutan Blossom, strong taste of sandalwood and patchouli
• Forest Honey, dark and molasses-like

More can be found with the Honey Locator. You'll also be able to find some more exotic honeys by visiting a smaller, specialty grocer or perhaps just by taking a closer look at the labels at the supermarket. If you see more than one you like, you can always host your own honey tasting.

Have you ever had herbal coffee? For people who are extremely sensitive to caffeine, to the point where even decaf is intolerable, or those who have sensitive stomachs and cannot drink the brew without discomfort, there are several faux coffee products on the market. The Miami Herald conducted a brief tasting of four easily available versions of the herbal brew, each of which is intended to look and taste similar to coffee. The emphasis is on the word similar, since they consist of ingredients such as barley, rye, chicory, wheat, beets, figs and chicory. Their reactions:

• Pero - glossy black with a faint, unsatisfying taste that was described as "elusive," even when brewed at double strength
• Cafix - tasted "roastier and more coffee-esque" than Pero, which isn't saying all that much. Its main claim to fame is that it gives you coffee breath.
• Postum - "Grim."
• Teeccino - available at Whole Foods, this drink is brewed (not instant, like the others) and comes in flavors like "Amaretto Almond" and "Hazelnut." Overall, it was the most similar to real coffee and the most worth drinking.

Source

For many of us going "home" for the holidays means ill-fitting gift shirts, drug store chocolate, eggnog spiked with bourbon, abusive grandparents, drunken tears, broken glass, the wail of sirens commingling with Xmas carols, blackouts, stunned girl or boyfriends gaping in mute horror at our ancestral home decor, and nonstop football on television.

Isn't it amazing that a simple few items of nutrition can make this sort of trauma pass like it was a summer night under the stars with the Philharmonic and a loved one by your blanket? Sound too amazing to be true? It isn't, dear friends, gather 'round. I've learned the key to holiday survival, which is to assume that wherever you go, no one will understand your culinary needs. You will need to bring all your weird herbs and foods with you, in little marked packets, for your relatives to make fun of.