Each plant produces a particular nectar which has its own smell and flavour. So each valley or hill or highland of our Abruzzo, according to the different floristic associations and different periods of the year, produces a different kind of honey.

By means of complex transformation from the nectar “stolen from the flowers” by the bees we obtain the final product: Honey. From the initial composition of the nectar, represented by water, sugars, small quantities of organic acid, mineral salts, enzymes, aromatic substances, we obtain a product which is completely different, with important chemical and biochemical transformations due to the interaction with the biological and metabolic activity of the bees. So we obtain a decrease of the quantity of water which determines the capacity of preservation of the product, the enrichment in enzymatic compounds and transformation of complex sugars, like saccharose, into simple sugars such as glucose and fructose.

The presence of all these biologically active compounds makes the honey a real nourishment (it contains: mineral salts, calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamins, proteins and enzymes) and not only a simple sweetening. Also used as tonic for the liver, anti-inflammatory for the throat and laxative. Recommended for diabetics, to purify blood and against acid stomach.

RICOTTA WITH SAFFRON AND HONEY

This incredibily simple recipe is a fabulous fusion of flavours of local produce. We first came across it in a family run restaurant in the hills of Roccascalegna area. Maria used fresh cow's milk ricotta and drizzled it with acacia honey and the piece de resistance being the powdered saffron to sprinkle over the cheese... The saffron hails from the Navelli area in Abruzzo - a most prized cultivation, only produced in these plains and only over 8 hectares. It is harvested in the first week or so of November

Try it for yourself and be enchanted or come to Abruzzo and taste the original...


These information come from AbsolutelyAbruzzo.com