Maine farmers have recently begun to rent great numbers of bees to pollinate blueberries. Mid to late summer is also the time of chestnut honey, my favorite among the kinds that are relatively easy to find. Chestnut honey is clear and dark, with a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that people either love immediately or decide to avoid. Honey from the manuka tree of New Zealand , too, will complement either cheese. It has a slight bitter aftertaste and the licorice-like flavor of horehound.
Chestnut is one of the few honeys that is made better by a dry summer.
Low rainfall usually means fewer flowers and less nectar, resulting in scant production and weak-flavored honey. In the case of chestnuts, however, a lack of rain reduces competition from other flowers, and the honey gains intensity. Mario Bianco still speaks with reverence of his potent chestnut honey from the very dry summer of 1983. A glaze of honey rubbed over a chicken to be roasted will help brown and crisp it. Honey of course plays a fundamental role in many sweets.