Honey is a sweet, slightly thick liquid food with a dark golden color. It is produced in the honey sacs of various bees from the nectar of flowers, which usually reminds us that it is honey present in the liquid state. Taste and color depend on the flowers from which the nectar is also used to make honey.
1. What is Honey?
When we hear the honey word it usually reminds us of the slightly thicker liquid which has a luscious or sweet flavour used in cooking, baking, salad dressings, making desserts, as a spread for slices of bread, pancakes, etc. It gives the same taste as sugar. That’s why we used it as a substitute for white sugar in tea, coffee, and other beverages. Honey is a natural sweetener and also acts as a healthy substitute for table sugar or other sweeteners in food and drinks.
2. What Are the Health Benefits of Honey?
Honey contains a vital nutrient that provides wound healing faster and many health benefits. Some of the benefits are as follows:
• For diabetes patients, it is also used as a sweetener instead of sugar, mainly in tea, coffee, etc.
• It maintains cholesterols and triglyceride levels that will help us reduce heart attacks and strokes.
• It helps reduce the chances of getting cancer and its treatment.
3. What Measures Need to Be Taken for the Storage of Honey for a Longer Time?
Honey is also compared with traditional refined sugar or white, which provides a taste at the same level. It is also used as a sweetener to replace sugar. Honey has also been used naturally for a longer time and still tastes the same. Here are some tips: Firstly, store honey only at room temperature; do not refrigerate it. Do not keep it under direct sunlight. Store in a glass jar, food-safe plastic container, tightly sealed container, etc.
Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay/ copyright 2015
4. What are the Condiments Which We Add to Our Foods? What are Common Examples of Condiments?
Condiments can be in any form based on our cooking procedure. One typical example is consuming sandwiches with ketchup, sauces, compound butter, salt, etc. Here, condiments include ketchup, such as barbecue sauce, soy sauce, fish sauces, salt, and compound butter. In addition, condiments can be made in any form. It is also used as a ‘ dip’ for appetizers like French fries and ‘sauces’ for sandwiches, meat recipes, cooked by frying chicken, or other recipes; some condiments can also act as an all-rounder that combines very well with any food.
5. What Other condiments are Made from Honey, and is Honey a Condiment?
Honey is a condiment present in a liquid state with sweetness, which in turn helps us to make other condiments by adding some other ingredients. At the same time, honey is also added as a master ingredient in most foods. Here are examples of other condiments that are also prepared from honey.
5.1. Honey Mustard Sauce
Preparing honey mustard sauce involves using honey, mustard seeds, mayonnaise, and some spices according to the individual’s taste or preferences. Fried chicken with salads, including honey mustard, provides a unique taste. A tangy mixture with a balancing sweet flavor helps pair it with meats, cheese, vegetables, etc. The meals in which cooking uses honey mustard as a condiment are all unique.
5.2. Honey Garlic Butter
Preparing it involves using only a few ingredients, such as honey, garlic, butter, parsley, lemon juice, etc. It is easy to prepare with some simple steps. It can be a combination of the natural sweetness of honey that balances the savory and aromatic flavors. It can be many food items or dishes like fish recipes, mainly salmon, fried chicken recipes, meat, prawns, shrimp, carrots, etc.
5.3. Soy Sauce
This word reminds us of umami as well as tanginess. It directly impacts an unbelievable flavor to several cooked foods and helps digestion. We can also add some honey, a combination, to the next level. On the other hand, Noodles, pizza, either homemade or from restaurants, and stir-fries, if we add honey soy sauce to these recipes, can provide a perfect mixture of sweetness that reduces the sour flavor.
Image by Andreas Theis from Pixabay/ copyright 2017
5.4. Honey Vinegar
It is mainly used in countries like Italy, France, Romania, and Spain and is now spreading worldwide. It tastes exactly like using ‘peach and apricot’ at a time. Peaches are sweeter along with the liquid, whereas apricots have a slightly sharp flavor. It is mainly in salad dressing recipes like ‘Vinaigrette and balsamic Vinaigrette.’ It has some benefits for example in managing acid reflux which in turn helps to support gut health, helps to balance pH & blood sugar, lowers cholesterol directly maintains heart health, helps to reduce inflammation quickly, reduces acne & improves skin conditions, and helps to relieve leg cramp fast.
5.5. Chilli Peppers
As the name indicates, it is an intense and very hot flavor. To reduce or cool down the hot flavour ‘honey’ we add honey which forms as hot honey. Chilli and black pepper are the key ingredients of hot honey. Honey Chilli pepper is a mixture of sweet and spicy or hot flavors. Hot honey also spreads over pizza dips for chicken, or chicken pieces and cooking of other food. Hot honey is also added to our breakfast in sandwiches, biscuits, ice cream, etc.
5.6. Fermented Fish Sauce
It is also called ‘ Garum‘. As the name indicates, it is prepared by fermentation for about 3- 12 months. The liquid that is leaking after the completion of the process is Garum. It possesses most of the nutrients in fish and its organs, which improves further after the fermentation process. Nutrients include containing vitamins A & D, proteins, and iodine. To eat some foods which are exciting as well as new to us we can add some honey to it. As a result, it is also used in various ways like dip, marinades, BBQ, salad dressings, and other foods.
6. Common Examples of Some Food Items that are Served with this Condiment
6.1. Breakfast Cereals
It includes honey blueberry pancakes and honey smoothie bowl, which also use this condiment to enhance flavor.
6.2. Salad Dressings
It mainly involves adding lime, honey mustard, and olive oil as a condiment to improve the dish’s palatability.
6.3. French Fries
French fries, table sauces, barbecue or hot sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, etc, taste brilliant.
6.4. Homemade Pizza
It can also be made with hot sauce as a condiment that provides a unique flavor that tastes exactly like restaurant pizza.
6.5. Chicken
Its preparation uses honey soy sauces, honey vinegar, hot sauces, hot honey, which provides better flavour and improves the dish’s texture.
6.6. Glaze Desserts
Glazed honey in desserts gives a smooth or shiny finish. A glaze is usually drizzled onto a cake or applied with a pastry brush to give a glisten to pastries.
6.7. Baked Goods
It is also included in making biscuits, moist cakes, muffins, etc, as a condiment to improve taste, flavor, and texture.
6.8. Fish Sauce
It is an excellent condiment for soups, stews, and curries. It amplifies the savoury flavour and adds character to the western style soups or stews, like French onion Soup, or beef stew which makes you feel like eating foods of different foods in our houses.
Image by Puii Sangsuriyasilp from Pixabay/ copyright 2016
7. Conclusion
The condiments are supplementary foods that are added in small portions too to increase the palatability of food during cooking or while eating or to complement the dish as well. The condiment can be of any type, whether liquids, powders, thicker liquids like sauces, kinds of ketchup, etc. Furthermore, some types of condiments are mainly helpful in preparing others. Condiments are also used in foods or some dishes to improve texture, enhance flavor, provide palatable flavor, make it tasty, sweet, seasoning, etc. Yes, honey is a condiment. Hence, honey is perfectly suitable for the definition of condiment mentioned above.
Last Updated on by Janhavi Ramesh Kowligi
