USES OF HONEY ARE DEMONSTRATED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 144, 19 June 1931, Page 10

USES OF HONEY ARE DEMONSTRATED.

EXCELLENT RESULTS RECEIVED IN COOKING.

How honey for some cooking purposes is more convenient than sugar was demonstrated yesterday afternoon by Miss M. Cross, chief demonstrator for the M.E.D. Her audience was composed of the delegates attending the annual conference of the National Beekeepers’ Association of New Zealand, together w r ith their wives and friends. New Zealand was a beekeepers’ paradise, said Miss Cross, and the flavour of New Zealand honey, due to a combination of nectar gathered from white clover, fruit blossom and native flowers, was unsurpassed. “ Honey is the oldest and purest sweet food, and its use in place of refined sugar is recommended,” Miss Cross continued. “It cannot harm the teeth and does not tax the digestive system. Honey is nature’s nerve and heart food. It contains over 77 per cent grape and fruit sugars ready for the immediate nourishment of tired tissues. For the invalid and sick person it is simply invaluable and is wholeheartedly . recommended by the medical profession. Writing in the ‘ Lancet,’ the English Medical Journal, Dr G. N. W. Thomas said: ‘ Instead of depending on milk and beef extracts, as is done in many cases of fever when the stores of sugar in the body are being rapidly used up, I suggest that honey should be given for general physical repair, and, above all, for heart failure.’ Nature’s Food.

“ When one has to build up again after an illness that is just the time to take honey liberally. From cradle to old age honey should form part of the daily diet of everybody. The more it is used in the place of manufactured sugar, the better for the health of us all. Satisfy the children’s natural craving for sweets with nature’s own food. Sweeten their porridge with honey. You will be adding to its food value and making it delicious. A glass of warm milk with a spoonful of honey makes a splendid tonic. As a nightcap for old people, a toddy made from boiling water, honey and port wine is excellent. To sweeten baby’s milk with honey adds to the body-building value of the milk.

“ One of the best tests of purity in honey is that it will set or granulate. Boiled or overheated honey will not set, and should be avoided as its food value has been almost completely destroyed; it is no longer honey as its chemical composition has been entirely changed. Good honey should be finely set and fully matured. Some Suggestions.

“ I will try to give you some helpful suggestions as to its use. When used in cooking, honey does not always produce the same effect as corresponding qualities of sugar, but the constant flavour and quality of good honey will always produce reliable results. Where it is used as a substitute for sugar, bear in mind that a cupful of honey corresponds to rather more than the same amount of cane sugar and will sweeten equally as well. “ Besides sugar in honey, there is a certain amount of water. Therefore, ir» using honey as a substitute for sugar, use one-fifth of a cupful less of liquid than is called for in the recipe. If this rule is kept in mind any ordinary recipe may easily be modified to use honey. Honey for some cooking purposes will be more convenient for use if liquid. It can be made liquid by placing the container in a warm oven or in warm water. Be careful not to overheat.”