Honey
Anytime someone in my family had a cold or sore throat, my
dad would give them honey. For Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, it is a
tradition to dip apples in honey. I
chose honey because it is something that has always been an integral part of my
life. During my childhood, I would eat a spoonful of honey every morning. I
would put it in tea as a sugar substitute and put it on toast with butter.
There was always honey, especially raw honey, in my house. Just the word alone
elicits a warm, happy emotion because it reminds me of times when everything
was simple and good.
Honey is a viscous liquid made from flower pollen by bees. It
can be smooth and transparent with an amber color, or it can be crystalline,
opaque, white and solid like raw honey or cactus honey, which is my favorite. Both
varieties are sweet and sticky, which makes it soothing to eat, especially when
sick.
There are a lot of vitamins and minerals in honey, including
vitamins B6, thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin, and minerals calcium, copper,
iron, magnesium, and zinc. Using honey as a natural sweetener can improve
digestion as well because it has natural sugars that help increase the rate of
metabolism. (1)
There have been records of beekeeping in early Spain and Egypt
that show that honey has been around for thousands of years and has been used
as an embalming fluid as well as a natural sweetener. The production of honey
(and beeswax) increased when there was a need for church candles after the
beginning of Christianity. Later, when sugar became the major export, honey slowly
became of less importance and decreased in production. In addition to honey itself containing "magical" properties, bees were thought to
have special powers and were used as emblems and decorations for royalty. (2)
Although it is not used as an embalming fluid or as a gift
to the gods, honey has come a long way. It still carries significance and is
used as a sweetener for tea and cakes, as a hair conditioner and as a
facial mask to remove acne. It also helps relieve sore throats and coughs
because of its soothing texture and nutritional value. (3)
Honey, especially raw honey, symbolizes simplicity and
purity. It also has come to be synonymous for kindness, delight, and happiness.
This is the reason for its use on Rosh Hashana, so that those who celebrate can
have a year filled with happiness. The word honey is used as a term of
endearment and to describe someone’s innocent and sweet personality. It can
also symbolize hard work and dedication, since it takes a bee’s entire life to
make a teaspoon of honey. It is truly amazing how all of this can come from just pollen from a flower.
Thank you this is very interesting. I don't like honey to eat as such but I love to cook with it in sweet and more so savory things. Partly because it comes from bees and is about as close as earth to table as you can get!
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