I love the Honeys.
Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, the husband and wife team behind three baby honeys — Honey & Co; Honey & Spice and their newest addition, Honey & Smoke.
They also have given birth to three cookery books. Each a voyeuristic glimpse into their world. The first was almost a love letter from Itamar to Sarit packed with their fabulous recipes. The second, a baking book, also filled with their stories and packed with Sarit’s wonderful cakes, breads and bakes.
This month, they delivered their third tome to hungry foodies. A party was held at Honey & Smoke which I sadly couldn’t make, but it was, I hear, every bit as delicious as you would expect.
The book is divided into recipes they cook for just the two of them; simple food for friends; weekend feasts and food for a crowd, plus some kitchen staples, like spice mixes, pickles and sauces
I’ve had my copy for a few weeks and have already been trying it out. A last minute Friday night for my lovely cousin Jojo was perfect to cook their chicken braised in spicy matbucha and cracked wheat pilaf, one of their one pot meals.
I love a one pot meal — who needs to be washing up a pile of pans? Not me, especially on one of the hottest Shabbats of the year so far.
It went down a storm — tomatoes, lemons and peppers giving it real punch. The cooked lemons were especially perfect for a hot summer’s evening.
A shopping malfunction (actually, an empty space on the cracked wheat section at Sainsbury’s) let me down, leaving me cracked wheat-less. So no pilaf. Instead I cooked their Israeli coucous. The recipe used tomatoes (no one would go short on lycopene on my watch) feta and lemons. I left out the feta on account of our eating chicken with it, and the basil – on account of my not having any in stock. The end result was delicious, comfort food in such huge quantities that I was eating it for a week. No great hardship. No hardship at all.
The next day I needed cookies for a family tea. The Honeys offer two similar cookie recipes. One with choc chips and coffee beans. The other packed with white choc chips, currants and orange. With children on the guestlist, the potential was there for sugary, caffeine-laden treats to go horribly wrong, so I chose the white choc version, subbing cranberries for currants.
Not only were they foolproof but they were delicious.
So good, I baked another batch a couple of days later for my elder mini-Fresser to take to cub camp. I filled them with dark and milk choc chips plus the zest of a whole orange. A sort of Terry’s chocolate orange of cookies. Superb.
Little Miss Fresser is already requesting other variations for me to cook up, and I shall make some with her over the school hols, I'm sure.
My copy is already tomato-spattered and will, I’m sure wear many more foods before I’m done.
Well done to the Honeys on another fabulous book, filled with lovely stories and even more delicious food.
