Food: Honey

Eating the honey off the palm of the hand, or the spoon, or a cup

Big 'ol bucket of honey. And you better believe there are a ton of bees and wax in there .

 

In many rural areas and within traditional cultures, honey is still hugely valued. Wild honey is commonly foraged in most of Tanzania and among one of the tribes that we work with it is still used as part of the dowry offering in marriage. It is also used to pay fines within the culture (for various cultural transgressions), as a bargaining item in exchange for livestock, as well as being a fixture at cultural events such as funerals or weddings. As with many cultures around the world, it is also fermented to make a honey wine but it is also commonly consumed raw. And when I say consumed raw, I mean, palmed like a bear and licked clean. I recently found myself at a homestead that had recently procured a few kilograms of honey. 

I was invited inside due to the recent arrival of a couple of literal buckets of honey. My host was excited to invite me in to join the consumption. I could not ascertain for which reason the honey was procured but the mood was cheerful. I was surprised at the huge bucket of honey, full of debris such as wax, bark, and dead bees. But I was truly shocked at the rate of consumption which I observed; young men were scooping huge portions of honey into their palms and then slurping it up before dishing out more which resulted in something I could only accurately call a feeding frenzy. I was given a small bowl with an enormous amount of honey, probably at least a half kilogram (1 lb.). Although I do enjoy honey I almost always consume it as a spread on toast. I have been known to enjoy a spoonful here and there but I am certainly not accustomed to eating such a large volume in one sitting. 

Luckily I have more than enough experience in this type of situation. As a result of living and traveling in several different countries across the world, I have learned to tell the difference between a situation with escape possibilities and an inescapable situation. If provided with coagulated goats blood garnished with cilantro (as the Mapuche in Chile offered me) or the eye of a steamed fish (as is customary in China for the guest of honor to begin with to signal the beginning of a feast) I've known that must suck it up in front of the huge crowd and do my best to consume with a smile on my face. If faced with a grisly piece of fat from a day old un-refrigerated piece of meat in a homestead, I can usually locate a hungry dog or pawn it off to a willing child. In this case I knew I had to consume a fair bit of honey but I was pleased that when I informed my host that I was satiated, he gladly yanked the bowl from my hand and slurped down the remains.

One of the most common ways to forage for honey is to look for it in Baobab trees. Honeybees are fond of the crevices in the huge trees. Honey hunters tend to reuse specific trees and it's not uncommon to find pegs riddling the trunks of the Baobab trees.

A typical Baobab tree with climbing pegs to collect honey

This story actually took place in October 2017 but I was recently perusing some old photos and I remembered it.