Meadowfoam Honey

I love culinary accidents like this. Right around the time people stopped using whale oils, some clever people discovered that oil made from the seeds of the meadowfoam plant (native to the Pacific Northwest) was a sustainable replacement. Named for little white flowers that blanket the ground (looking like the foaming sea), folks quickly discovered that the honey made from the plant was incredibly tasty. The seeds are still considered to make one of the best vegetable oils around, but it is the honey that ended up as a culinary star.

It tastes like toasted marshmallows with a caramelized, burnt sugar flavor tipped with notes of vanilla. It’s got everyone excited from chefs to honeyphiles to Midwestern food finders like us. It’s fantastic drizzled into yogurt, poured over fresh goat cheese or stirred into drinks as a natural sweetener.