November 2007

At long last, Ulmo has arrived in Ann Arbor — this pretty rare and very special honey, gathered from Southern Chile when the bees are feeding on the blossoms of the Ulmo tree.

Like all varietal honeys, the Ulmo has a flavor all its own. If you haven't yet tried honeys that come from a single flower source like this, I think you're in for a really good treat. Ulmo honeys just plain taste really good and they have a level of complexity and character that matches any other great food or wine. On top of that they're easy to use — mostly I personally eat 'em by the spoonful when I want a good sweet, but they're great with cheese, olive oil, toast, tea or about a hundred other things too. And since — unlike other things I love like zucchini blossoms — they last a lifetime there's no rush to use them up in hurry. You can keep jars of good honey on hand for ages and eat 'em whenever you like.

An evergreen of great size, the Ulmo tree is unique to Chile, (though I've been told that it's related to the Leatherwood tree which grows in Tasmania and from which we also get some amazing honey). Thank goodness for beeswings — the trees are upwards of a hundred feet in many cases. At the end of the Chilean summer and the beginning of fall (that's our spring) the trees are covered with elegant bright white, camellia-like blossoms, so much so that they look like our local trees when they're covered with snow in the winter. The honey is gathered in late February and March, late summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Merken is THE native spice of Chile, an essential ingredient of the Mapuche people, one that, from what I can gather, they eat it regularly and with most everything. It's made from Cacho de Cabra chile — the name means "horn of the goat," given for the shape of the peppers. The ripe red chiles are harvested during February and the first few days of March, then dried over slowly smoldering pieces of native wood — in essence the chiles are smoked during the drying process, and then, at the end of the process, ground to a fairly fine powder and blended with ground coriander seed.

It's about as easy to use and versatile as you're going to get — you just sprinkle it on whatever you're eating. I've taken to just keeping it on the kitchen table along with salt and pepper and then adding it to most anything where a bit of heat would be of benefit. Merken is great on vegetables, fish, and meat (I like it on lamb a lot). It's particularly good on potatoes, of which the Mapuche eat a lot. I've put it on pasta, added it to eggs... pretty much you name it's good. Actually it's fruit is great with it as well — melons, papaya, pineapple in particular — remember the Mexican thing of serving fruit sprinkled with ground chile. Haven't tried it with chocolate but it could well be good there too.

We've got the merken open at the Deli so you can catch a whiff at will, or taste a bit on your next visit. Great stocking stuffer for anyone who likes spice and special stuff.