Paul Piscopo, the executive chef at The St. Regis San Francisco, is sharing his passion for honey and beekeeping with Bay Area diners.
The hotel recently began hosting its own hives, and the chef expects he will be able to harvest honey from them next year.
“It’s not incredibly difficult; it just takes a little bit of time,” Piscopo says of starting and maintaining the hives. “Like anything else, once you start to learn about something you want to learn more, and you get inspired by it.”
Also a fan of pairing honey and cheese in dishes throughout the menu, Piscopo has used both ingredients to create specialties like his tortellini plate with heirloom peppers, house-made ricotta and honey. He explains just a small drizzle of honey on the cheese, “about a hair’s thickness,” is enough for an accent.
“To slop honey around and waste it is a travesty,” Masterton explains, adding that one honeybee will produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire life. “If you think that a pound … or a jar of honey takes about 625 bees to make—their life’s work—it really is a precious commodity. The bees are chemists and cooks and scientists.”
Another factor to consider when pairing honey and cheese is location. “It’s best if you have a locally made cheese … and a locally sourced honey,” Masterton says, adding that stone fruit, citrus fruit or berries tend to mingle well with honey and cheese flavors. “If you’re from Vermont, for example, I would say a McIntosh apple with cheddar cheese, with some local clover honey.”
While most reputable, high-end retail markets reliably carry good honey products, Masterton advises the best way to audit quality is to check labels and make sure the only ingredient is pure honey. Also, turn the container to examine the honey’s thickness. “If it’s too thin, it’s probably been watered on,” she says. “The best thing to do, [however], is buy honey directly from a beekeeper [at] a farmers market. Just like with produce, if you know the grower, it’s better.”
Ecco Alchemy
There is a unique alchemy that takes place when cheese and honey are paired together, and guests of Ecco in Midtown can get a taste of this delectable combination with its highly touted fried goat cheese with honey appetizer. Using goat cheese sourced from Laura Chenel’s Chevre in Sonoma, Calif., the “pioneer” of American goat cheese production, and Busy Bee organic clover honey, Ecco takes this gastronomic union to the next level. The soft, tangy cheese is rolled into small, bite-sized balls, and then fried in a light tempura batter, which slightly melts the cheese yet doesn’t take away from its natural flavors. The goat cheese balls are then drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cracked black pepper. Mark Wilson, general manager at Ecco, says that it’s by far the most popular dish at the restaurant—and possibly the best cheese and honey pairing in Atlanta. Wilson adds, “It’s almost a must that [guests] try it.” (404-347-9555; ecco-atlanta.com) —Alli Tong
