Who doesn’t love honey?? I, for one, have always loved honey and have always been curious about the wonderful history of honey as food. Here is some interesting info I have picked up:
 

 

It is believed that honey has been around for ages and even collection of honey started at least 10,000 years ago. Cave Paintings of women collecting honey dating back to 7000 BC has been sited in Spain at the same time fossil remains of honey bees dating close to 150 million years also have been discovered.
 
The word honey comes from the English word “Hunig”. In literature the first mention of this delicious syrup dates back to close to 2100 B.C in Sumerian and Babylonian writings as well as in Indian and Egyptian writings.
 
It dint take man long to realize that honey is a pure natural sweetener that is easy on the stomach, good for your health, easily adapted to any kind of cooking and will not spoil even if it is kept with you for years!!! It is no wonder that it has been used in cooking for ages.
 
Ancient Egyptians used honey as a sweetener and often baked honey cakes which were offered to Gods. They also used honey in their embalming fluid.
 
The Greek too made honey cakes and considered honey to be “ambrosia”, the food of gods. n fact they used honey to make a number of dishes including sweetmeats and cakes. They also mixed honey with cheese or into cheesecakes.
 
Similarly the Romans who were well known for their beekeeping used honey not only for gifting the Gods but also used it a lot in their cooking.
 
With the spread of Christianity, production of beeswax for church candles increased considerably and this consequently meant an increased usage of honey.
 
By now the usage of honey was common throughout Europe and in Germany peasants paid their land owners with honey and beeswax. But with the arrival of sugar after the renaissance and close to the 17th century the use of honey as a sweetener reduced.
 
When the Spaniards reached America in 1600 they found that the natives were already adept at extracting honey and using them in their diet.
 
Today the main use of honey is in cooking and baking. They are used in most households  as a spread for breads and sometimes even to flavor dishes. They are also used to make honey dips  and honey sauces like honey barbecue and honey mustard. Honey is also used to make mead also known as "honey wine" or "honey beer".
 
Honey Trivia
 
Most cultures from ancient times to today believe that honey has a number of medical properties. They are used on burns and rashes even today. They are used to soothe sore throats too.
 
Honey has also found its place in the traditional rituals of various cultures, like for example in Jewish tradition honey is a symbol for the New Year and so at the traditional dinner apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten.
 
In olden times honey was even used to make cement, furniture polishes and varnishes.
 
 

Image Credits
www.wikipedia.org