Not just for sweet success – Fiona Smith’s dishes showcase the delightful variety and nuances of honey.

Honey comes in so many varieties from all sorts of botanical sources; I never really appreciated the incredible variations until I did some flavour profiling for J. Friend & Co (an artisan honey company) many years ago. When tasting honeys against each other the differences are outstanding, as each has its own unique colour, aroma and taste. Honey is, of course, sweet, but can at the same time be salty, caramelly, earthy, fudgy, floral, grassy, herbal, medicinal – the list goes on.

Choosing the right honey for a recipe shouldn’t be stressful: while they have their nuances, most honeys are versatile and accommodating. That said, certain honey works magic in certain dishes and I would be cautious of the stronger ones, such as mānuka, as they can easily overpower a dish and be a dominant flavour you may not want.