On Rosh Hashanah evening, my family sat down to a pretty traditional meal: hallah, gefilte fish, brisket and chicken. (See the recent recipe clumn: New Recipes for the New Year.)

Of course, we dipped apples in honey but with a twist this year. As I looked in my pantry, I found several different kinds of honey. So I thought a honey tasting contest would liven up dinner a bit.

On the platter were the following: raw, unpasteurized wildflower honey from Asheville, North Carolina;  wildflower honey from the Haimes’  backyard; Honey from the Heart, a fundraiser with a blend of honey from the U.S., Canada and Arkansas; Katelyn’s Honey from Kentucky; and Turkish honey. There was not a honey bear to be seen.

We also tasted several apples including Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith and Fuji.

I’m pleased to say that in this unscientific survey, the local Montclair honey was the favorite honey and the Granny Smith apple won for its crispness and nice contrast to the sweetness of the honey.

This was a fun way to start our dinner and actually made us think about the food and its origins.

Try it next year. You’ll be amazed at the many different kinds of honey available in local stores.

Books from the Lampert  Library featuring honey:

Kimmel                 Big Sam: a Rosh Hashanah Tall tale (Children’s)

Ofanansky            What’s the Buzz: honey for a sweet new year (Children’s)

Ormes                   Little Honey bee (Children’s)

Polacco                 The Bee Tree (Children’s)

Yolen                     Milk and Honey: a year of Jewish holidays (Children’s)

Zucker                  Apples and Honey: a Rosh Hashanah story (Children’s)

Gitlitz                    A Drizzle of Honey: the lives and recipes of Spain’s secret Jews

Kellerman           Milk and Honey