Recipe of the week: the sweetness of the Miel de Provence

The Honey of Provence, needless to say, is among the sweetest pleasures of the Cote d’Azur. 

Its most diffused versions, the mixed-flowers honey and the lavender and lavandin honey, are recognised with the Protected Geographical Indication and the Label rouge, which is a French sign of assurance of quality.

More than 300 professional beekeepers work in the Provence region in over 150 hives, contributing to the 8 per cent of the French GDP.

Many of them work under a system of transhumance, which means that, according to the season, they move the hives from the coast to the Haute-Provence, passing through the Southern Alps. Some go even further, reaching the acacias, chestnut trees and pine trees of the Rhone valley.

Summer is the best time of the year for the production of the lavender and lavandin honey. This is the most typical kind of Provencal honey. Lightly aromatic and slightly acid, its colour varies from a golden yellow to a pearly white.

The colours and flavours of the mixed-flours Miel de Provence vary according to the territory where it is produced: from the maquis to the garrigue, from the plains to the hills.

Not to forget are the less-diffused kinds of Miel de Provence, equally delicious and praised. Among them are the heather honey, naturally creamy and with a caramel and cocoa scent, and the rosemary honey, a light-coloured and delicate honey appreciated since the antiquity.

The chestnut honey is easy to recognise thanks to its golden brown colour, its sharp scent and its slightly bitter flavour. The forest honey is dark and liquid, and is produced from oak trees, pine trees and maquis.

Typical are also the thyme honey, slightly peppery, the strawberry tree honey, known for its bitterness, and the Tilleul honey, produced in the Sea Alps, recognisable for its minty scent.

This week, we suggest a recipe featuring the delicious Miel de Provence: chicken with mixed-flower Provencal honey and caramelised onions.

Ingredients

one chicken (of about 1.8 kg)

200 g spelt

2 lemons

3 tbsp mixed-flowers Miel de Provence

1 tsp curry

50 g butter

1 kg onions

125 g green grapes

salt and pepper

Method

Grate and squeeze the lemons. In a pot, melt the butter and the honey together, then add the lemon juice and zest. Peel and chop the onions.

Cook the spelt in boiling salted water for about 45 minutes at low heat. Stir often to avoid the seeds to stick to the bottom of the pot. When cooked, add the grapes and remove from the heat. 

Cook the chicken in oven until golden. Keep pouring the juice of butter, honey and lemon on it. 

In another baking tray put the onions with half of the lemons, and cook in circulating oven set for few minutes until golden.

Drain the spelt and add the onions and the curry. When the chicken is well golden, add the spelt and onions in the same baking tray. Cook in oven for another 15 minutes. 

Cut the chicken in 8 pieces and add salt before serving.