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Fork in the Road: Tupelo honey from Apalachicola
By Laurel Miller
Correspondent
May 13, 2008
ALLOW ME to first state the obvious: Van Morrison. Tupelo honey reached the general public consciousness with the Irish singer's '71 hit song of the same name, but how many of us even know what tupelo honey is? While Morrison used it as a synonym for the demeanor of the love object in his song, tupelo honey is actually the gold standard of the genre, produced from the White Ogeechee Tupelo tree. Native to North America, the trees are found in the Ogeechee, Apalachicola and Chattahoochee River basins of the Florida Panhandle, which are the only regions in the world where tupelo honey is commercially produced.
The honey is revered for its golden clarity (the 1997 Peter Fonda film "Ulee's Gold" is about a reclusive beekeeper named Ulee, who harvests tupelo honey in the Apalachicola region), and sweet, mild flavor. It is high in levulose (most honeys are high in dextrose), the chemical composition of which prevents tupelo honey from crystallizing.
Last May, I was fortunate enough to collect tupelo honey from the banks of the Apalachicola River with award-winning chef Chris Hastings of Birmingham's Hot and Hot Fish Club. In an earlier column, I wrote about crabbing in northwest Florida while on Hastings' "Foraging the Forgotten Coast" culinary tour.
A native North Carolinian, Hastings spent his childhood foraging for wild foods in the creeks and woods near his home. He is a devout supporter of his local family farmers and food artisans, and as the culinary advisor for Northern Florida's St. Joe real estate company, has become something of a pioneer in the area of linking regional foods to sustainable land development.
Regional treasures
The rural Apalachicola or "Forgotten Coast" on the Florida Panhandle is home to highly prized indigenous foods such as gulf hopper shrimp, blue crabs and bay scallops, as well as tupelo honey. Hastings' mission is to bring national attention to the subsistence farmers and food artisans who work to harvest, protect and promote these products. He organizes "Foraging the Forgotten Coast" culinary trips and works with area chefs to support local growers and fishermen in collaboration with St. Joe's.
Hastings is a huge fan of tupelo honey, using it in vinaigrettes, ice cream, and on cheese plates. In Apalachicola, he has established a friendship with beekeeper George Watkins, who also works in the land management division of the Apalachicola National Estuarine Marine Research Reserve. Watkins served as a consultant on "Ulee's Gold," and his hives were featured in the film. He and his business partner, Jimmy Moses, sell their honey direct to local farm stands, markets and restaurants in Apalachicola. They don't sell in bulk because it's too labor-intensive a product, and because it negatively affects the quality.
Hastings' culinary tour included a visit to Watkins' backwoods beeyard on the banks of the Apalachicola River, where he keeps 50 hives. Here, the world's largest stand of Ogeechee trees grows profusely, enabling enough honey to be produced to have it designated a regional product. The trees blossom in April and May, and Watkins places the bees on "bee barges" alongside the river's edge. The hives are then relocated to the beeyard, and the business of honeymaking begins.
Explains Watkins, "We isolate the bee colonies so they only go after the tupelo when it's blooming, since they only fly in a two-mile radius. Around April 12, we move the bees by barge to the tupelo area. But they need relocation afterwards, or they'll starve. From January to March, they produce what we call a 'red honey,' from maple and elderberry, and in summer they feed on arrowhead lily, cabbage palm and duck's clover."
Bees vs. mosquitos
Watkins' honey isn't an organic product, as mosquito abatement programs are necessary in this swampy region. "Normally, they spray during the day," says Watkins, "which means that natural pollinators such as bumblebees and butterflies are affected. In this area, we have them spray at night, in order to help preserve the ecosystem. There's been a steady worldwide decline in bee population since the 1940s" (pesticide use is thought to be a major contributing factor, along with the spread of mites and parasites).
With the help of Watkins and Moses, our group of six learned how to pull frames of honeycomb from the hives, before placing them, two frames at time, in a small extractor that we cranked by hand. Each frame can produce up to 1 gallon, or 12 pounds, of honey, with an average of 5 to 6 gallons yielded from each hive. Centrifugal force removes the honey from the combs. It is then filtered once through a piece of cloth to remove impurities (it is still considered an unfiltered product). Unlike commercial honey, Watkins doesn't use heat or repeated filtering, which destroys the flavor complexities of the honey.
Sitting on the back of a dented vintage Ford pickup in the sultry backwoods of northwestern Florida, listening to the whirr of cicadas, drinking homemade mead made from Watkins' honey and eating bread smeared with my hand-extracted tupelo gold is one of my penultimate food experiences. Thanks to Chris Hastings and George Watkins, it's one everyone can share.
Laurel Miller is a freelance writer, cooking teacher and owner of the Sustainable Kitchen. Contact her at www.sustainablekitchen.com .
Details You can find tupelo honey at specialty grocers, such as the Pasta Shop in Berkeley and Oakland. Williams-Sonoma offers 20-ounce bottles of tupelo honey online for $23; www.williams-sonoma.com. For information on "Foraging the Forgotten Coast" culinary tours, contact Brownell Travel, 205-414-1659 or www.brownelltravel.com/specials13.html .
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