You probably won’t get honeycomb at your local supermarket, but good delis often stock it, and a small local honey-producer will be able to sell to you direct; it’s also available on the internet. It’s worth getting hold of some because it is such a treat: honey in its purest form, straight from the hive, untreated and pretty much as the bees intended it. The idea is to eat the whole thing, comb and all. The comb has a chewy, waxy texture and is perfectly edible, but you can discreetly discard it once you’ve sucked all the honey from it, if you prefer.
Serves 4
100g hazelnuts (skin-on)
250g ricotta
About 200g honeycomb
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas 4. Spread the hazelnuts out on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes, until they are lightly coloured and their skins are starting to split. Tip them on to a clean tea towel, fold the towel over them and give them a vigorous rub. This will remove most of the skins – don’t worry if a few bits remain. Alternatively, you can remove the skins by tipping the hazelnuts into a sieve and rubbing the tea towel over them, so the bits of skin fall through the sieve.
Divide the ricotta between shallow serving bowls. Break or cut your honeycomb into 4 roughly equal pieces and place on the ricotta, trickling over any honey that has escaped from the comb too. Scatter over the hazelnuts. Admire the irresistible tripartite simplicity of what you have just compiled, and serve with a smile.
SWAPS You can certainly use a thick, rich natural yoghurt instead of the ricotta, or plain fromage frais. And, of course, you can use a good runny honey without the comb.