Fermented garlic honey

Fermented garlic honey is great to have in your cupboard particularly approaching winter time and is a delicious addition to a vinaigrette or a meat marinade. It takes at least a month for the garlic honey to ferment so aim to make it ahead of time.  Make sure you use raw honey from your local beekeeper. Often honey from the supermarket is pasteurised involving intense heat which destroys the antioxidants, vitamins and enzymes, basically all the good stuff.

Its so easy and super quick to make. I used 2 heads of small cloves of organic Australian garlic from a local grower The Giving Farm. Peel your garlic. I find if you crush the cloves under a flat knife blade the skin just falls off. Crushing also releases the antibacterial constituent allicin from the garlic. Put the garlic in a clean jar large enough to leave at least a quarter of the space empty at the top. I also added a few slices of fresh ginger for its flavour and anti-inflammatory properties. Pour in just enough honey to cover. Stir with a spoon to make sure the garlic is all nicely coated and put in the cupboard.

Fermented garlic honey recipe

70g raw honey

30g organic garlic (2 small heads)

5g fresh ginger

 Each day unscrew the lid to let any built up gases escape and stir to make sure the garlic remains covered by the honey. After a few days you’ll see air bubbles forming on the top. This is a great sign. It means fermenting is happening. After a few weeks you should no longer need to open the jar to let the gases escape. You may notice the honey darken over time. This is completely normal. Wait at least 1 month before consuming, but the longer the better.

Take a teaspoon when needed of just the honey or eat the cloves. The clove flavour will have reduced through the fermenting process.